Return to the Grand Line
by DemonHunter457
Summary: Luffy has lost all the people he held dear thanks to the Fleet Admiral Akainu. However thanks to a mysterious stranger Luffy is going to have a second change to set things right. This time with the Hie Magu no Mi. Pairings (So Far) LuNa, UsKa, SaNo. Luffy harem eventually. (Probably not a large one though) I do not own One Piece.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

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><p>Luffy realized that he was the last member of his crew. Kneeling before Akainu he couldn't focus on any other fact. He was alone. It shouldn't have ended up this way. But it did. He should have been able to protect his nakama. But he couldn't. And because of that now none of his crew would reach their dreams. All because they had helped him try to achieve his dream. They had given everything. But in the end it wasn't enough.<p>

Looking around the island they were currently on the devastation was clear. You would never guess that this island was once peaceful filled with happy villagers. Now there was only lava. He and Akainu were located on one of the few patches of earth untouched by his powers. Looking out to sea Luffy could see the burning remains of Sunny slowly sinking into the murky depths of the ocean. Of his nakama there was no trace. They had been purged from the earth just as the villagers and the rest of the marines had. There were only two living beings on this island. Him and Akainu.

He looked up at the monster that had been the end to his friends the one with magma oozing out of his body. Akainu had taken everything from him. First his brother Ace all those years ago, and now he had taken all of his nakama. As Luffy observed Akainu he looked at all the injuries that he had received in their battle. The most scaring of which was the vertical slash down the left side of his face. Zoro had given him that wound just like the wound he himself had received during his training with Mihawk. But other than that Akainu just looked weary with minor gashes to clothes and any parts of his body that weren't currently molten.

Luffy was too weary to continue fighting. With his nakama on the line he would have kept fighting until he could no longer draw breath no matter how outclassed Luffy seemed to be he would have surmounted any odds. But he didn't have any nakama to fight for anymore. Akainu had won. The Marines had won. And Akainu knew this just as Luffy knew this.

Luffy focused on his face. He had a look of relative pacifism accompanied by a triumphant smirk. It was not the face of a man whose sins weighed heavily upon their soul. With labored breath Akainu let out a cruel laugh. "You have lost Straw Hat." Akainu rasped out. He honestly appeared to be just as in rough condition as Luffy. But unlike Luffy he didn't lose anyone he cared about that day. All the marines lost that day had given their lives to help end piracy and thus had died righteously. And so he raised his right fist the same one that had ended Ace's life would now end his brother's. Bathed in magma he prepared to end Luffy. And Luffy was prepared to die.

But Luffy would not die today. Instead as Luffy looked at Akainu's face he noticed a look of surprise cross it. Luffy had no time to think about what had caused this change before a hand grasping something burst out of the chest of Akainu. Akainu's heart was held within its grasp. Luffy looked back to Akainu's face and saw the same expression there as before frozen on his face although his eyes no longer contained life. Akainu slumped to the ground as the figure's hand slipped out of his chest still holding his still heart. And Luffy had survived.

But Luffy did not want to survive. Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes as he looked at the mysterious figure and a confused look crossed his face. The figure met his gaze but didn't say anything at first.

Luffy got his first chance to observe this new comer. He was dressed entirely in black. His suit, shirt, shoes and even his tie were a solid black. He had no facial hair however he had neatly cut hair with color as black as his clothes. But the man himself was pale, disturbingly so. If Luffy looked hard enough he could swear he could see the man's skull through his near translucent skin.

The man then gave Luffy a strange smile. Not a hostile one, however it still unnerved Luffy. "I must admit I am appalled at your manors." The man said smirking. "I would think that you owe me a thanks for saving your life."

Luffy asked "Why did you stop him from killing me?"

The man's grin grew even wider "Well I would think that the answer to that question would be quite obvious." He started to look away a bored expression replacing the grin "But if I actually need to spell it out for you I suppose I will…"

At this the man leaned down and put his face right in front of Luffy's his grin came back nearly splitting his face in two. "The reason I saved you is because this isn't the way I want your story to end."

Luffy was surprised and confused he wasn't quite sure what to say to that. But the man didn't seem too keen to offer anymore answers until Luffy spoke again. "What do you mean my story? My nakama are dead I can't keep going knowing I wasn't strong enough to protect them."

The man let out a snicker "But that is exactly why I helped you, don't you see? I didn't want it to end this way so I'm giving you some assistance." Standing up the strange man continued speaking "I know you are _all broken up_ about the death of your nakama but what if I said I could make all this just a bad dream."

Luffy disliked the mocking tone the man had taken but what the man seemed to be proposing was something Luffy desperately needed. "Could you bring them back?"

At this the man laughed "Well of course not who do you think I am god? No what I offer is a deal. Not to bring them back but instead allow you to change the past, and make sure that this…" at this he gestured to the hellish landscape around them "never happens." He finishes.

Luffy realized he really only had one choice. Even if he didn't really like or trust the man in front of him. He needed his nakama and thus was willing to do whatever it took to get them back. "What do you need me to do?"

At this the man's grin grew once again "Well that's quite simple you just need to accept the power I give you and from now on make things interesting for me. I already saw what happened so I want to see what didn't happen. Catch my drift?"

Luffy seemed to understand what the man was saying "You want me to change the past…to entertain you?" The man laughed "YES! You do understand that's great. However, back to that other condition. The power I want to give you is superior to your Gomu Gomu no mi."

Luffy was intrigued at this but let the man continue. "In fact it is a devil fruit of my own making… well sort of my own making I had some help from our heartless friend there." He said this while gesturing towards Akainu. "And one other man yet I can't seem to recall his name… But that is not important"

With this he held out his still bloody hand. The one which used to contain a heart now contained a devil fruit. One with the classic swirls that are on many devil fruit but this one was multi-colored featuring both dark red and light blue swirls. "What I have here in my hand is the Hie Magu no Mi. When I ripped the heart from Akainu I also removed the devil fruit within him. Combining his Magu Magu no Mi with another's Hie Hie no Mi."

Luffy began to think back to when he had seen an ice type devil fruit and quickly realized who it had come from "You killed Kuzan didn't you?"

"Was that his name? Well no matter he's dead and now you have a choice. Do you take the Hie Magu no Mi and continue your adventure or do you choose to live your life as if we never crossed paths?"

Luffy without thinking twice reached out and took the fruit. Before Luffy could react however the man plunged his still bloody hand into Luffy's chest. Luffy didn't move. He didn't feel the hand that should currently be squirming around in his insides. The man laughed "Oh before I forget I have to well… remove your previous devil fruit if you want the new one. While I did kill the others I'm pretty sure I can do it without killing you…maybe. However it will most likely hurt like hell."

And with that the man began pulling his hand out. Luffy had never experienced pain like this. It was as if the man was ripping him apart at the seams. He screamed as the man kept pulling and pulling something from within Luffy. And as the man's hand slid out of his chest a fruit came sliding out with it the very same fruit he had eaten as a child. He was now holding up the Gomu Gomu no Mi fruit as if it had never been consumed all those years ago.

"Well as pleasant as your company has been I'm afraid our time together is drawing to a close. You can keep the Gomu Gomu no Mi fruit for I have no need for it. I'd recommend giving it to one of your recently deceased nakama but from here on out what you do is entirely up to you."

Luffy still reeling from the pain started to consume the new devil fruit and just like when he was a kid grimaced at the terrible taste. Once he finished he took his old devil fruit out of the man's hand. "So Luffy are you ready for your new adventure?" Luffy nodded his head in acceptance and as the man reached forward with two fingers towards Luffy, he asked one question "Who are you?"

The man grinned but said nothing as he touched his two fingers to Luffy's head and the world went black.

The next thing Luffy experience was an incredibly bright flash of light and the sensation that he was falling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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><p>The next thing Luffy experienced was an incredibly bright flash of light and the sensation that he was falling.<p>

And the next thing he noticed was that he was surprisingly high up in the air. Luffy thought to himself where exactly did that strange guy send him and when? He noticed a burnt up bird and what seemed to be a dispersing explosion of some kind. This did bring back some memories but he couldn't quite recall why.

Luffy started to focus on the ground that was rapidly approaching. All he could see was some town but it didn't really have anything to set itself apart from any other town he had visited so that didn't help him any. But as he came closer and closer to the ground he saw an orange haired woman running from three large looking men.

Now this definitely seemed familiar but he didn't have any time to give this anymore thought as he hit the ground with a loud crash. Groaning Luffy began to stand up. It occurred to him that this crash actually hurt which was odd because he'd never been hurt by blunt damage before. But then it hit him he was no longer a rubber man he was instead… a chilly magma man? He'd have to come up with a cooler name than that but it looks like the men in front of him were getting over their surprise.

"Hey who the hell are you? And how'd a punk like you survive that kind of fall?" The one with the scars all across his head demanded.

Before Luffy could respond however a woman's voice spoke up from behind him. "Boss! You came to save me!" He knew that voice turning around he saw a woman that just a few hours before had been murdered before his very eyes.

"Nami." Luffy mumbled aloud. The future navigator of the Straw Hat pirates seemed perturbed at first that a random man who mere seconds before had come falling out of the sky knew her name. But she didn't have much time to dwell on this she had to get out of there now that she had the map. She didn't have time to waste.

She took off with a shout of "Sorry but they're all yours now!" and then she was soon disappearing into the distance. But Luffy knew where he was now. This was the town that he had first faced down Buggy the Clown and when Nami had become his navigator.

"So you're that girl's boss eh? Well too bad cause now you've got to..." he didn't even get to finish his sentence before Luffy turned and sent a small wave of conqueror's haki his way immediately knocking all three men unconscious. Luffy heard a muttered "What the hell…" from up on the roof of one of the nearby buildings.

"What did you do to those guys? You didn't even touch them…" Thinking to herself 'Just who is this guy and why does he know my name?'

"Oh well I used what is called conqueror's haki it allows me to knock people of weak will unconscious." Luffy said.

'Holy shit this guy must be really tough. Hmm… I wonder if I can use him to get some of that clown bastard's treasure.' She shouted down to the strange man "Hey look you seem tough and I could use your help. Wanna team up with me?"

Luffy didn't respond at first he simply watched his nakama. It was weird seeing her it made him realize that she really had changed a lot over those two years apart. He realized Nami was looking at him oddly now and it hit him. 'Oh man how long have I been staring at her?' "Uh… sure I'll team up with you but first…" and at this moment his stomach rumbled in hunger.

Nami heard and laughed to herself "Let me guess you want some food right?"

Luffy gave a start to this "WOW how'd you guess that!?"

Nami sweat dropped at this. The guy didn't appear all that bright. Oh well she didn't need smart right now just someone strong. "Never mind about that let's just get you some food." So she jumped down from the roof and led the man to one of the unoccupied houses.

* * *

><p>Nami prepared a sandwich for her new partner in crime. While she was doing this she decided to try and get to know a little bit about this man. She wasn't sure why he seemed to know her name but she decided to figure this out later. "So who exactly are you and how'd you get so strong?"<p>

Luffy thought about this for a second. How much could he really tell her? He definitely couldn't let too much slip or she'd probably think he was crazy. So he figured vague answers would do for now. "Well the name is Monkey D. Luffy and I guess I've just been training like crazy to get to where I am."

Nami nodded at this and decided to introduce herself as well and pretend she hadn't heard him earlier when he said her name. "Well my name is Nami and I am a thief who steals from pirates."

"Ah so is that why those guys came after you earlier? You don't seem to have any treasure on you so what'd you steal from them?"

"Well I stole a map of the grand line from them. I need it if I'm going to achieve my goal."

Luffy's face softened at this. He remembered the hardship she had been through and was saddened that she was still going through it. But this was going to be another chance to give a serious beat down to Arlong. So he asked "What is your goal then?"

"Well it's to earn 100 million Berries, no matter what it takes." Nami said with a look of determination on her face.

"Ah so that's your goal but why exactly do you need so much?"

"It's a secret!" she said while turning around.

"Ok well I suppose since you told me your goal I'll tell you mine." Luffy had an idea that might help in dealing with Arlong.

Nami seemed interested in this and turned her head over her shoulder looking back at Luffy. "Oh so what is your goal?"

"Well there is this man… well fishman that I plan on taking down." Luffy could see her stiffen at this but she was trying to hide her surprise.

"Oh? Who is exactly is this fishman?"

"Ah you probably wouldn't know him but he goes by the name of Arlong ever hear anything about him?" At this he saw a look of surprise cross her face and she quickly looked away.

"I might have but why do you want to take down someone like him."

"Well if you know anything about him I don't think I really have to answer that question. But since you asked it's because he is a monster. I've heard some terrible stories about him subjugating a village to his will. He demands money from the village and in return the people of the village aren't killed. He is a disgrace to pirates everywhere." Luffy said this while watching for a reaction from Nami, but so far she hadn't moved a muscle.

"And what makes you think your strong enough to defeat a monster like that." She said still not betraying any emotion.

"Because I've defeated stronger monsters than him and for less reason."

"Like what?" She had turned around again at this point. She had a serious expression on her face and was giving him her full attention.

"Well I once fought someone like him because he made my nav-someone close to me cry." Luffy nearly kicked himself over that slip up he didn't need her asking about his navigator.

Nami wasn't sure what to think of this man before her anymore. He certainly must have been strong to just knock those men out with that haki of his whatever that was. But was he really strong enough to defeat someone like Arlong? So she said simply "Prove it."

"What you want me to go fight Arlong right now? I don't really know how to get to him from here I'd need a navigator for that." Luffy said.

"No what I want you to do is why I initially wanted to team up with you although I was planning on you being a diversion." Nami said rethinking her earlier plan of 'turning in her boss' to Buggy.

"What do you mean Nami?"

"Well if you defeat the pirate on this island and all his crew single handed I might just believe that you can defeat someone like Arlong."

Luffy shoved the remaining amount of food in his mouth and quickly swallowed. "Ok sounds easy enough where are these pirates?"

"Well I can take you too them but don't expect any help from me if you get overwhelmed." And with that they left the abandoned house and made their way to Buggy's campsite.

"So who exactly am I fighting here the captain of those guys from earlier?"

"Yeah he goes by the name Buggy the Clown. He looks really weird well just like a clown but don't underestimate him. People say he has a devil fruit power, and that's going to make him tough to beat."

"Oh yeah well that doesn't scare me. He's not the only one with a devil fruit power."

"Wait you have a devil fruit power!? How come you never mentioned that earlier? What can you do?" Nami had stopped leading Luffy and was keen to see what he could do.

"Oh yeah I do, and I didn't say something about it because you never asked. And well I could show you but to be honest I've never used it before so give me a second to try and figure out how it works."

At this Nami face faulted 'He has a devil fruit power but he has never ONCE used it!?'

Luffy closed his eyes and tried to focus on the new power he should have. Deep within himself he began to feel two powerful sources of power. One was made up of sheer cold and the other a blazing heat. He tried drawing from both and he could feel the power welling up inside him. Opening his eyes he looked down at his hands and began funneling his powers to both his arms. In his right he focused the intense blaze and in his left he focused the chilling cold. And before his very eyes his left arm turned completely frozen but it didn't hurt and the cold was almost welcoming. And looking to his right he could see it was formed completely out of magma and drops of the molten substance dripped off his arm boring into the stones that made up the road. Looking back at Nami he couldn't help but smirk noticing her surprised look.

"D-do you have TWO devil fruits?" Nami said unable to peel her eyes from his two elemental arms.

"No its just one I ate the Hie Magu devil fruit which gives me control over both magma and ice. I am a chilly magma man I guess."

Nami couldn't believe it. 'Who exactly was this man?' For the first time she began thinking that he might actually be able to take Arlong down.

"I'm sort of new to this devil fruit but it's a logia type if you know what that means." Nami shook her head at this so Luffy began to explain. "Well it means that my body can make up my two elements at will so things like bullets, blades and fists will have no effect on me. Well unless they are powered up by haki but no one in the East Blue should be able to use that."

"Wait haki is that ability you used before right? So if people don't have 'haki' they basically can't hurt you?" Nami was extremely surprised at this. She had never seen Arlong use any kind of power like that. And if that was true did that mean Arlong couldn't hurt him?

"Well there are ways I mean if I am touching sea water or sea stone my powers would go away. Although if I'm fast enough I might be able to just freeze the water if I fall in. And people with powers more elemental in nature should be able to affect me depending on what they are. Although I think I have to train in order to for me to change form on reflex. So I have to be aware of an attack in order to negate it." Luffy said pondering the weaknesses of a logia

'Ok so he isn't immortal but still… He might actually be able to kick Arlong's ass.' Could her goal be closer to hand then she thought? She could stop working towards paying him and instead focus on her dream. 'Well he still has to defeat Buggy if he can't do that there's no way he could fight someone like Arlong'

"Alright well… That's good to know but you still have to defeat Buggy before I even think you might have a chance against Arlong." Even if she was trying to sound skeptical she couldn't help but actually start to hope that she found someone strong enough to actually end Arlong's abuse.

At that Luffy laughed "Shishishishi alright well lead the way and I'll kick his ass." And so the two set off again towards their destination. On their way there however the pair encountered a familiar face, or at least familiar to Luffy.

"Hey Zoro! I see ya finally caught up with me what took you so long?" Luffy said with a stupid grin on his face. Zoro looked annoyed for a second and seemed on the verge of yelling at his captain most likely for being kidnapped by a bird but once he got a look at his captain he realized that this was not the same man that he had watched get flown away.

"Luffy what the hell happened to you? Why do you look so different?"

Luffy confused at first was about to ask what he meant when he looked down and it suddenly dawned on him. He still looked exactly the same as he did before he traveled back in time. To Zoro it must looked like he suddenly aged and changed clothes. Thinking on that he supposed according to this time he had done just that. How was he going to explain this to Zoro?

"Wait Luffy you know this guy? But he's the pirate hunter right? What are you doing with him?" Nami asked confused at why Luffy would know a pirate hunter. 'And what's the deal with Luffy's looks?' she thought to herself.

"Yeah he used to be a pirate hunter but I helped him out and in return he became my first mate!" Luffy said looking proud of himself.

Zoro still giving his captain a sideways look confirmed this. "Yeah but Luffy you still haven't answered my question. You look... older and what's with the wardrobe change?"

Zoro was staring intently at his captain and Nami herself looked to see what Luffy's explanation was. The fact that he knew her name when they first met came to the forefront of her mind again. 'Who exactly is this guy?' She found herself wondering again.

Luffy was visibly sweating at this point he wasn't sure what to say. So not knowing what else to say simply asked "Uh would you mind waiting for that explanation while we go kick some pirate ass?"

Zoro simply nodded and said "Sounds good to me." And took off in the opposite direction that Nami and Luffy had originally been heading in.

Nami was confused at this and shouted "Where do you think your headed? The pirates are this way!" while pointing further down the street.

Zoro simply stopped turned around and started heading the right direction letting out a simple "Oh."

Nami face faulted at this. 'What was he just going to take off in random direction until he ran into pirates?' And why the hell was he not more concerned about the apparent transformation of his friend? She certainly wanted to hear his explanation. But with nothing else to really say started heading in the same direction as Zoro with Luffy following close behind.

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><p>And so the three eventually came across a building larger than most of the others in the area. Looking at the top you could see a tent and a large cannon currently hanging over the edge pointed at some of the abandoned houses. At least Nami hoped they were all abandoned because a second later a resounding boom sounded out and suddenly a large row of houses were suddenly leveled in the blink of an eye.<p>

"Alright Nami so do you want me to defeat these guys by myself or do you mind if Zoro takes a couple?"

Nami thought about this for a second but then decided that Luffy should take them all down by himself. After all if he wants to fight Arlong this should be a piece of cake. "Well the deal was for you to fight them so you should just take them on while we watch."

"Sounds good to me!" And with that the three split up with Luffy heading to the roof of the building with the tent and Zoro and Nami heading to one of the roofs of the other buildings.

"So Zoro can you tell me a little about Luffy? How long has it been since you've seen him if he has changed so drastically?" Nami figured if she wasn't going to get anything for a while from Luffy then maybe Zoro could tell her something about him.

"Well the last time I saw him was a little more than a few hours ago which is why this change kind of disturbs me. But I guess well the kids a moron but he's got guts and he's pretty strong. Especially with that devil fruit of his."

"Wait you've seen his devil fruit? He told me that was something new. When he showed me he had to figure out how to use it." Nami looked to Zoro expectantly.

"What do you mean he had to 'figure it out'? He seemed to pretty much have his rubber powers down when I saw him grab a hold of that giant bird a few thousand feet above his head." Zoro was confused at her question. He guessed he had never asked Luffy exactly when he got his powers but with the way he handled them he never thought they were anything new to him.

"What do you mean by rubber powers? I was told he had eaten the Hie Magu devil fruit. I saw him with magma dripping down his arm as the other one was made completely of ice."

At this Zoro's eyes widened. Magma and ice? Those certainly weren't the powers he had seen before and they certainly sounded like devil fruit powers. Did he have more than one devil fruit? But that was supposed to be impossible. Zoro looked towards the opposite roof where he could see Luffy's form nearing the tent. He didn't know what was going any more but he certainly knew one thing.

'Luffy's certainly got some explaining to do when he's finished kicking that guys ass…' both Nami and Zoro thought simultaneously.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

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><p>Luffy having made his way to the roof was now approaching the tent of Buggy the Clown. It seemed something was happening near where Buggy should have been because all of his crew were surrounding the entrance.<p>

"So what you are telling me is that you three not only let that thief get away, but you were also all knocked unconscious from a man who fell from the sky? Do you take me for a fool?"

"Of course not Captain Buggy we'd never take for you for a clown… **I mean fool!**" One of the men in the center shouted.

Buggy was silent for a second. But so was everyone else as no one dared utter a word. "Did you just call me… a **CLOWN!** Prepare to die flas…"

Before Buggy could finish his sentence he was interrupted by a loud "Hey! Big nose get out here so I can kick your ass!" An even greater silence was met at this. None of the Buggy Pirates could believe what had just been said. An opening was created in the group so Buggy could see the offender.

After a short silence where no one moved, Buggy began to laugh ominously. The crew grew uneasily at this, there was no way this was going to end well. "You three, today is your lucky day. If you kill this guy I will forgive your pathetic failures and I might just forgive the insult."

The three men looked towards the guy that dared insult their captain and were suddenly horror struck to learn that it was that man. "But Buggy! This is the guy that knocked us out before! We were no match for him!"

"I won't repeat myself either he dies or all of you die." Buggy said staring the three down.

And so the three warily started making their way to the man with the straw hat. However as they grew nearer a sudden wave came over them and just as before and they collapsed to the ground. The wave knocked all of the other men to the ground as well leaving only two standing.

Buggy's eyes widened at this. If he wasn't mistaken that was conquerors haki but there were only two men he had seen to ever display that power. And of those two only one was alive and he hadn't seen him for a long time.

"Who the hell are you kid? And how do you have conquerors haki?" Buggy wasn't sure what he should do about the kid. On the one hand he had made fun of his nose and knocked his men unconscious. For that he wanted to kill him. However this kid could also be a powerful ally. He seemed to be alone so maybe he was looking for a crew to join up with.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm going to be King of the Pirates!" Luffy said while standing defiantly in front of Buggy. "Oh and I'm going to kick your ass."

'Never mind I'm going to have to kill this guy.' Buggy thought. The kid was too ambitious and a moron on top of it. "Alright Straw hat how about this instead. I kill you and then I'll be the one finding One Piece."

Luffy figured it was time to end this. He powered up one of his legs with haki and with speed the clown couldn't follow, gave a swift kick to the clown's gut sending him flying towards the town's harbor. He watched him sail over the town and then saw a large cloud of debris plume up from the harbor area.

"Well better get back to my crew then." After dusting himself off he started heading off to where Nami and Zoro should be. But they chose to meet him halfway back in the town's streets.

"Luffy how did you knock all those guys unconscious?" Zoro wasn't wasting any time it seemed and wanted to figure out exactly what was going on. Which if Luffy thought about it sort of made sense they had only really been traveling together for a couple days at this point.

"That was your conquerors haki right? The thing you used to knock those three out from before." Luffy nodded at this.

"Look guys I know I promised to answer your guy's questions but let's first get to the harbor. I want to start getting headed to the next island and we still have to make sure the Buggy pirates leave this island alone." And at this Luffy started heading in the direction he had sent Buggy.

* * *

><p>Nami and Zoro gave each other a look but said nothing and started following Luffy. After a short walk they eventually made it to the harbor. Looking up at Buggy's ship they could see that its captain had been launched into the captain's quarters of the ship punching a decent sized hole in it. Although no other visible damage was done to the ship and seemed perfectly sailable.<p>

"Hey Nami if we're going to be traveling together would you mind if we used your ship ours is a little small for three people." Luffy said while pointing out the two ships.

"Yeah just bring your guys stuff on board mine." After she said this however it hit her. 'Wait we hadn't discussed me traveling with them. Though she supposed it would've happened anyway it seemed Luffy was her best shot right now at getting rid of Arlong.' And with that she decided she wouldn't bring up the issue of them traveling together quite yet.

"Ok Zoro how about you help Nami load up the new ship. I'm going to finish dealing with Buggy's remaining crew." And without waiting for a response he headed for the clown's ship.

Once Luffy climbed aboard he noticed the only three members of Buggy's crew he hadn't dealt with yet. The first and second mate as well as their pet lion. The three hadn't seemed to notice him yet and the two human crewmembers were currently fretting over the state of their captain.

"Hey you two stop worrying about your captain." Luffy said while still walking towards the destroyed captain's quarters. The two as well as the lion turned at this, surprised someone dared come aboard their ship despite its current condition.

"Hey just who do you think you are? You must be quite brave to dare come aboard the ship of **Captain Buggy**!" Moji emphasized the name as if to make Luffy start quaking in his boots.

"I wouldn't call it brave considering I'm the one who put your captain through your ship. Now I have come to ask something of you if you'll listen."

"And why the hell should we listen to you! I think we should just kick your ass instead." This time Cabaji spoke up.

"Well for one if I'm strong enough to defeat your captain I'm more than enough for the two of you. And your other reason is…" At this Luffy powered both of his arms up with magma allowing a single drop to hit the boats deck immediately starting to eat through the wood. "… IF you don't listen I'll put your boat at the bottom of this harbor."

At this the two men immediately stopped their advance warily eyeing the man before them. Deciding he had the upper hand Moji caved saying "Ok! Ok! Let's not be too hasty here. What do you want from us?"

Luffy let the magma sink back into his skin and stopped the drop that was currently eating its way through the ship. "Well back at Buggy's camp you'll find the rest of your crewmates. I want you to take them and your captain and get the hell out of this town."

The two looked at each other at first on sure what to say. Without their captain guiding them though they supposed they really only had one choice. "And how do we know you aren't just going to destroy our ship while were away?"

"You don't. But what I really want is you to leave this town and you're going to need a ship to do that. So ultimately you're just going to have to trust me." Luffy retorted while staring them both down.

"Moji I think we should do as he says. If he's really the one that defeated the captain were no match for him. We should just get out of here."

Moji nodded at this "Ok we'll do as you ask just give us some time and we'll have our men on board and be on our way."

"Well get on your way then. I'll be here to make sure you leave."

And so the three Buggy pirates made their way off ship and started heading to where their camp was. After they got some distance away Luffy walked over to the rails and shouted down to his nakama "Hey Nami! There is no one conscious on this ship right now do you want to search it for treasure?" And quicker than the eye could make out Luffy was suddenly being dragged below deck.

"Great idea Luffy! Help me in collecting his treasure and I promise you will get around 1% of the haul." She said this while looking back at Luffy her eyes were replaced with Berries.

Luffy couldn't help but smile at this. This was the Nami he remembered. "Ok sounds like a plan Nami."

The two collected up the treasure that Buggy had accumulated and brought it to their own ship. Luffy then explained what had transpired aboard the pirate vessel to his two nakama and they waited for them to get back.

* * *

><p>And like they had promised the first and second mate were returning with their pet lion following close behind with a cart laden with the unconscious crew members. The two conscious members of the Buggy pirates were currently giving uneasy glances towards the pirates in the small ship in which Luffy was currently watching them intently.<p>

And true to his word Luffy let them set sail. When the ship was an acceptable distance away from the island Luffy and company set out as well. No words were spoken for a while but Luffy could tell the atmosphere was a little tense. And since it seemed they were a good distance away from the island he spoke up.

"So I'm guessing you guys want an explanation right?" Nami and Zoro gave a quick look at each other and Nami nodded to Zoro giving him the go ahead at the first question.

"So what exactly happened between when I saw you last and now? You just single handedly took down a pirate crew with little effort. You supposedly have some new devil fruit which I have yet to see. There is this haki business that you've been showing off. And finally why the hell does it look like you're the same age as me?"

Luffy was expecting this line of questioning but still had no clue how to answer it. He supposed he could just give them an abridged version of the truth. At this point it might just be the easiest way. Luffy let out a long sigh having made his mind up.

"Well to be honest a lot has happened. I am not the same Luffy you knew from Shell town. Well I am but at the same time I'm not."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question Luffy."

"I know, I know just give me a second. Well I guess the simplest way to explain it is that I'm over two years older than I was when you last saw me." Luffy looked straight into Zoro's eyes when he said this as if to convey the seriousness of his statement.

Zoro narrowed his eyes at this but said nothing yet. However that wasn't the case with Nami.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Nami seemed very flustered at the declaration by Luffy. How exactly does someone just age two years in the span of several hours. He was either crazy which meant she certainly shouldn't be traveling with him, or he was somehow telling the truth,

"Well the reason I aged is because I've lived those two years. Over two years ago at least to me I set sail from this island just like we are now. But at that time I was exactly the same as I was the last time Zoro saw me. But now I'm doing it again."

"Are you trying to tell us that you are somehow from the future? And if that's what you're trying to tell us how do you honestly expect us to believe you? That sounds absolu…"

But before Nami could continue Luffy interrupted saying "Nami I know why you need the money. And I know why you hate Arlong." At this Nami was stunned. She wasn't sure what to say, and her hand unconsciously reached for the tattoo underneath her shirt.

Turning to Zoro he said "I know why you carry the sword that you wield in your mouth. And why you must become the world's greatest swordsman." And with this revelation it was Zoro's turn to act stunned. Although he hid it much better than Nami did. The three grew silent and Luffy let them think on what he had said.

After some time Nami spoke up again "Say that we believe you but I'll say I'm still skeptical that you're not totally crazy. But if what you're saying **is** true then why did you come back?"

At this Nami and Zoro noticed he tensed up and averted his eyes, but not fast enough as they both noticed the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "It was a bit of both I suppose. I purposely came back but it was because the alternative meant… well I just couldn't accept what happened. I had to come back to change what happens in the future."

"Luffy…" at this Luffy looked back up to Nami "What happened to make you come back?"

"I had to come back because a man took everything I cared about in this world from me. He murdered my nakama and my brother. In the end I was left with nothing. All because I wasn't strong enough."

"Were we among those that this man… killed?" Nami asked fearful of the answer. At this Luffy could only nod weakly.

"Nami I think we should leave the captain alone for a while. I don't think I'm the only one that wants to think on what's been said." And Zoro stood up and headed for the small cabin being followed closely behind by Nami. Although Nami as she entered stole one last glance back to Luffy and noticed the tears were flowing more freely now. She could feel herself tearing up as well. As much as she wanted to believe that he was crazy she was starting to seriously doubt it. Which made what he said all the scarier.

And then Luffy was alone as the door to the cabin closed. Luffy moved closer to the prow of the ship and looked into the murky depths of the ocean.

Since he had come back there been no time to contemplate what had happened to him the past twenty four hours. No time since the deaths of his nakama to mourn. But now two of them had just been right in front of him. They were alive again just like that man had promised he was sent back in time. But now what would happen.

Although the man didn't say when he would send Luffy he hadn't thought it'd be this far back. But even then the man hadn't given him any pointers on how to deal with the situation he found himself in. Zoro had known something was wrong the instant he had seen him.

But those were problems he would deal with tomorrow. For now he wanted only to mourn the deaths of the nakama he had lost. But it turns out he wouldn't get the luxury.

"So what'd I tell ya pretty neat huh? Is it everything you'd thought it be?"

Luffy recognized that voice. Turning around he saw the skeletal like man grinning madly down at him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

><p>Luffy was now looking at the man that sent him back in time. He hadn't really expected to see him ever again to be honest. The man gave him an uneasy feeling. "What are you doing here?"<p>

The man just grinning let out a chuckle at this. "Ah still as rude as ever I see. I thought I told you to work on that? But no matter that's not why I came here."

"So again, what are you doing here?"

"Well to check up on you of course. I wanted to see how you were doing. After all it's gotta be nice to see your nakama alive again and not screaming in agony as they're burned alive." He didn't change his sickening smile but he got a glint in his eye at the last part as if he knew he was going to get a rise out of Luffy. But surprisingly enough he didn't.

Luffy had a somber look across his face and he turned back towards the ocean. "Why did you choose to send me here? I mean it seems like it would be easier to just send me back sooner or even before my nakama met me. Especially since I had to tell them what happened to me."

He laughed again at this. "Well to be honest I had no real reason to send you here besides to screw with you. Putting you here give you the unique position where you still pretty much have most of your adventure in front of you, while also creating a situation where you need to explain yourself to the only two nakama you have so far. To be honest I thought you'd come up with some kind of lie but I guess it's not surprising your too much of a goody two shoes to do that. You're just lucky they didn't think you were crazy after you pulled the "I'm from the future" card."

"Your only real reason was to screw with me?" Luffy said somewhat surprised.

"You'll find a lot of what I do is designed around screwing with you Luffy." he said with mock sweetness.

"Well if your only reason coming here was to check on me, I'm doing fine so I think it would be best if you leave."

"Oh my." the pale man said chuckling "So rude." he walked up behind Luffy and put a hand on his shoulder. Luffy at first made to brush his hand away but he suddenly found himself surrounded by an intense heat.

Looking around Luffy saw it was the island that he had battled Akainu on it was still completely bathed in magma. But surrounding him were his dying nakama slowly sinking down into the magma. They were all staring straight at him with pain wracking there features. And it was at this moment that the man chose to spoke.

"The next time you decide to be mouthy I think it would be wise to remember exactly what I saved you from. You have a second chance because of me so I will leave when I damn well please. But anyway on that sour note I do suppose it is getting awful late so I will leave you to your thoughts."

And with that he was gone just as suddenly as he appeared. Luffy found himself exactly where he was before at the prow of the ship. But the faces of his nakama where still burned into his memory. The look of pain as the life slowly left their eyes was terrifying to him. But as he let out a low sob as tears streamed down his face he looked forward determined.

"I won't let that ever happen again. I will get stronger and this time I will make sure my nakama never die." Luffy declared to himself. Although he wasn't aware of it one other person had heard his declaration.

Nami stood quietly at the door. She hadn't meant to listen in but she had come out just as he had started crying. She opened the door a little more moving through the door way as she did and slowly walked over to Luffy.

"Nami what are you doing out here?" Luffy said as he attempted to stifle his crying wiping the remnants of his tears on his sleeves.

"Well I wanted to check up on you. You've been out here for a while now so I wanted to know if you were alright."

"Yeah I'm sorry Nami I'm ok. I was just thinking about the past."

They're were both silent at this but Nami was still curious. "Luffy can I ask you a question?"

Turning around Luffy looked at Nami "Sure what is it?"

"Well what I wanted to ask is if you and Zoro were pirates?" at this Luffy nodded yes. "And in the past er the future I was a pirate like you?" and at this Luffy nodded again. "Ok... thanks for telling me. Look Luffy you should get some sleep it's getting late." And so the two got up and moved into the small cabin.

Luffy noticed three bed rolls laid out and selected the one that was still untouched and slid himself in. And then not too long after that sleep slowly overcame him.

But one person was still awake contemplating the events that had led to her being here. They were certainly odd. First some man falls out of the sky and ends up being some super powered weirdo. Then he ends up taking down an entire pirate crew single handedly in seconds. The crew had gone down in one instant and they're captain the next. And now she was sailing with them to some island to the south to look for a bigger ship.

And on top of that if she were to believe Luffy he is also from the future sent back in order to keep his nakama from dying. And she was one of those nakama. She had been a pirate which was probably the most troubling thing she had learned. She hated pirates so why would she become one. But looking at the man that seemed destined to be her captain she started to see why.

Despite being a pirate he seemed kind, and he had kicked Buggy and his crew out of that town. He seemed really strong but he didn't seem to abuse that power like many other pirates. Pirates like Arlong did and Luffy seemed determined to rid her town of Arlong. While Buggy was nowhere near the strength of Arlong seeing how little effort it took to take him down she could see that if anyone could take down Arlong it'd be Luffy. So maybe it might not be so bad to be a pirate if she was following him.

And finally the last of the straw hats drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning the three had gathered outside. They were still plotted for a course directly to a small island south of where they had been before. "So Luffy you've been to this island before right?"<p>

"Yeah if I remember right it's called Gecko Island and there is a village there called Syrup village. That is where we are headed."

"So Luffy this island were headed to you said it has a ship for us?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah it does and it's just about the greatest ship to ever sail these seas! It was called the Going Merry." Luffy said with a far of look in his eyes. Likely reminiscing on previous adventures. And with their destination confirmed Nami made her way back into the Cabin to sort through the treasure they had looted from Buggy.

Zoro didn't responded but was absorbed in his own thoughts as well. He wasn't entirely sure if he bought this whole time traveler business but he supposed it was as good as explanation as any to what exactly happened to the kid he had watched get taken by that bird. But it didn't really matter if he didn't totally believe Luffy's story. As he had sworn to follow him as his first mate so that was what he was going to do, time traveler or not.

"So Nami told me you had a different devil fruit would you mind showing me some of your new powers?"

"Hmm yeah I can show you my ice powers but I don't want to risk losing the ship with my magma ones. So here." He channeled his ice powers into his left arm turning it completely to ice. "Hey Zoro how about you take a swing at it with one of your swords."

Zoro stood up and started to draw one of his swords. "You sure about this Luffy? Do you really think your ice can stop my sword?"

Luffy just grinned at this "Something like that. Just take a swing and see for yourself."

And so with some reluctance Zoro took a swing at the arm half expecting it to stop his sword. But to his horror when it came into contact with the arm it plowed through the ice causing the limb to shatter.

At this point Luffy gripped what was now the stump of his severed arm and screamed in pain. Zoro wasn't sure what to do the moron had told him to do it. It wasn't his fault he cut off his arm was it?

And it was at this point that Nami chose to come out hearing the scream of pain from Luffy. The first thing she saw was Luffy gripping what seemed to be what was left of his arm. The next thing she saw was Zoro standing there with sword drawn and a stupefied look on his face. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT HERE!"

At this point Zoro started to sputter out an explanation but all Nami could make out was something about Luffy telling him to do it. But as she was about to interrogate him further they both noticed that Luffy's screaming had died down and he now seemed to be attempting to stifle laughter. And soon enough he busted out laughing and while holding up the shortened arm. And before their eyes ice started to flow from the stump reforming the arm and after then turned back into flesh and bone. Luffy continued laughing holding up his now fully formed arm.

Nami was pissed she couldn't believe she'd actually worried about the moron. Giving him a swift punch to the back of the head she screamed out "NEXT TIME I HEAR SCREAMS LIKE THAT ONE OF YOU HAD BETTER ACTUALLY BE MISSING A LIMB!" and with that outburst she went back into the cabin.

Luffy was now sporting a massive bump on the back of his head and no was no longer laughing. A muttered "So cruel…" could be heard from the slumped over form of there captain.

"Well serves you right for making us think I cut your damn arm off." And Zoro having also decided to leave the captain to his pain moved to the back of the ship with the intention of taking a nap.

Luffy decided that the pain was worth it. He hadn't had pulled a prank like that in a long time. But with nothing much else to do he shook of his injuries and looked towards the horizon. He could just barely see the outline of an island.

"Here we come Usopp and Merry. We'll be there soon."

Then a few hours later the three man crew found themselves pulling into a small inlet on the island. It seemed there weren't many places to pull into as the rest of the island seemed to be made of tall cliffs overlooking the ocean. The inlet had a long slope leading up to where Luffy had said should be a village.

But not soon after landing did they find themselves surrounded by flags all bearing the same marking of a skull with an elongated mouth. And then a man came out of the bushes and announced himself.

"I am the great Captain Usopp and surrounding you are my 80 million men. If you leave this island now I may choose to spare your lives." The long nosed man said standing proudly with a slingshot in his hand.

Nami seeing through the ruse easily asked Usopp "Your lying aren't you?"

And Usopp being the terrible liar that he was immediately shouted out "Yikes! She saw through it!"

Nami coolly replied "See, you admitted it."

And Usopp once again overreacting shouted "I admitted it to her!" while clutching his face and swaying side to side. But he attempted to save face by stating "80 million may have been an exaggeration, but I do have great men under my command!"

And the three could see six flags start to move up and down. Nami noting the number said simply "Like maybe three people?" and immediately three children clutching flags shot out of the bushes.

"She saw through it! R-run!" and they threw down there flags leaving there captain to face the pirates alone. "H-hey, you guys! Don't run away!"

"Hey you said your name was Usopp right?" Luffy chose to speak up.

"Ah so I see you have heard of me then. Yes everything that they say about the great captain Usopp and more is all true!" Usopp said taking a heroic position. Although he couldn't keep his knees from wobbling.

"Uh well not exactly you see I knew your dad Yasopp. He and Captain Shanks visited my town for a while and your dad told me enough about you to make my ears sore."

Usopp was surprised at this "Wait you knew my dad? Wait do you mean to tell me my dad is sailing under the great pirate Red Haired Shanks!"

"Shishishi yeah he is and he's probably the best sniper I've ever seen. But I haven't seen him since he left with Shanks all those years ago. But look me and my crew are hungry how about we talk about this over a meal?"

"Yeah sure I know a great place in the village we can get some food." And so the three Straw Hats met up with Usopp towards the top of the slope and headed to the village together.

* * *

><p>After enjoying a meal together with Luffy regaling Usopp in some tails about his father they started to discuss the reason for the pirate's arrival on the island.<p>

"So Usopp do you know anyone here with any sailing experience, or someone who could supply a large ship?" at this Usopp laughed.

"Well you see this is a small town and I'm sorry but we just don't have what you need."

"On the top of the hill… there was a huge mansion." Zoro spoke up.

At this Nami perked up "Say! Do you know them, Usopp?! Do you think they could help us out with a ship?"

Usopp grew sour at this and yelled "You can't go there!" But then he oddly enough made up some lame excuse and took off leaving the three alone in the restaurant.

"What was that all about?" Nami then turned to Luffy "I'm guessing you know where he went don't you?"

"Yeah but let's give him some time I want to finish up this meal." And so as Luffy finished the last remnants of the food they started to leave the building. "Well Usopp knows the girl in the mansion so that's where he is headed.."

"But he told us not to go there if he is friends with the girl why can't we meet with her?"

"Well the girl has apparently been holed up in her house ever since her parents died a while back from an illness. The girl is just really sad and Usopp goes there to cheer her up."

"Oh that's actually quite sweet for him to do that." Nami said.

"Yeah but I'm going to tell you guys now where going to have some fighting to do pretty soon here. Kaya's butler is really a pirate who's been plotting to get her wealth from her after she dies. Actually the man's crew should be coming here tomorrow to help him."

"So what're we going to do then Luffy?" Nami asked.

"Well were going to keep him from harming Kaya and were going to have to take him and his crew down to do it."

And so the three set of on the path up towards the mansion. One of them knowing exactly what was going to happen, and the other two interested to see whether or not events would play out as Luffy had said. If he was right then they're we going to have to get ready for a large battle tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

><p>Soon the three found themselves approaching the large gates of the mansion. Luffy led them around the side and they saw the pulled out block of hedge.<p>

"So this is where Usopp entered" Nami asked.

Luffy nodded at this and crawled through the opening. He motioned for the others to do the same and walked to where Usopp was currently telling Kaya about some story involving a giant goldfish.

"Hey Usopp why'd you run off?" Luffy shouted out causing both Usopp and Kaya to look down at the small group.

"Luffy what are you doing here? I thought I told you guys to stay away from here."

"Well we came to ask her for help of course." Luffy said smiling.

"You need some help from me? How could I help you guys?" Kaya said confused at the sudden newcomers.

"Well we came to see ya because we were hoping you could help us get a great big ship-"

"You there! What are you doing?!" Looking to their right they could see a tall thin man dressed in a black suit and glasses approaching. Judging by his facial expression he was not pleased about their presence.

"Luffy is that the butler you were talking about?" Nami asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah but don't say anything about it or else he might change his plans."

"I don't appreciate you breaking in here without permission." Kuro said while fixing his glasses on his face.

Kaya started to speak up at this point "A-actually, Klahadore, these people are-"

But Kuro interrupted her stating "That can wait for now. I can hear all about your reasons later. Now leave, all of you! Or do you have something to say?"

"Well _Klahadore _we actually came here hoping for some help in getting a ship." Luffy said staring the butler down.

Kuro was slightly unsettled at the way he said his name but he assumed it was because they weren't pleased at being asked to leave the property. He responded simply "No!" and after this he looked up roughly towards were Usopp was currently hiding on the other side of the tree "Usopp! I've heard all about you. You're well known in the village."

At this Usopp started to climb back on to the branch that he was sitting on before "Yeah?" he asked.

"I hear you've been on many an adventure. Quite impressive for someone so young."

"You can call me Captain Usopp, too! Since you admire me so much!" he said smirking and pointing a thumb at himself.

"Captain huh… I've heard all about your father, as well."

"What?!" Usopp was surprised at this.

Kaya started to shout "Klahadore! Stop!"

"You're nothing but the son of a filthy pirate!"

Luffy looked up at Kuro he had kind of forgotten about his hypocritical rant against pirates.

"Nothing you do will surprise me, but I ask that you stay away from the lady of this house!"

"F-filthy?!" Usopp was furious at this point. He let most anything slide when it came to insulting himself but his father was a great man. Klahadore had no right to talk of his father that way.

"She and you are from completely different worlds! Is it money you're after? How much do you want?"

At this Kaya looked appalled at her butlers' behavior "That's enough, Klahadore! Apologize to Usopp!"

Usopp turning to Kaya noticing how far she was leaning out the window said "Hey, now! Be careful, Kaya!"

"What reason is there to apologize to this savage man, my lady? I am merely stating the truth. I feel for you. You must truly hate your great idiot of a father… for abandoning his family and village because of his lust for treasure!"

"Klahadore!" Kaya shouted out.

"Don't you dare insult my father anymore!" Usopp looked beyond mad at this point. He then used a grappling hook to repel down the tree landing safely at the bottom. Hands clutched at his sides he stared Klahadore down.

"What are you getting unnecessarily riled up for? Why not simply tell another of your special lies at a time like this? About how your father is really a traveling salesman, or how you're not really related by blood…"

At this point Usopp started to lunge forward ready to punch Kuro but was held back by someone. Turning around with fury in his eyes he was met by the steady gaze of Luffy. "Why? Why'd you stop me from hitting him?"  
>"Usopp he just isn't worth it. He is just trying to rile you up so you'd do something like this. He wants to give Kaya a reason to dislike you."<p>

At this Usopp softened "Kaya…" he said softly. Looking up she still seemed furious but it looked like the anger was still directed at Klahadore. "I'm sorry" he whispered again and ran towards the hole in the hedge and dived through.

"Klahadore why did you have to say such cruel things to Usopp! He has been nothing but nice to me. He's my only true friend and you… you…" At this point she was crying heavily and slammed her windows shut not wanting to see his face anymore.

Kuro glared at the remaining three people in the yard. "I request that you leave immediately and never come near this mansion again!" and so the three did just let and left the same way Usopp had.

Kuro wasn't expecting it to end up this way. He had deliberately worked Usopp up so that he would hopefully hit him and then Kaya would begin to dislike the boy. But instead that straw hat kid had intervened and now Kaya was furious with him. But it was of no consequence come tomorrow the lady would be dead and her fortune would be his. And with that last thought in mind he smiled evilly and walked back towards the entrance of the house.

Kaya was now sitting alone in her bed. She had gotten up and locked the door not wanting to be disturbed by anyone. 'Why did Klahadore have to be so cruel to Usopp?' She knew he was most likely trying to do what was best for her but couldn't he see that Usopp was a good man? He was one of the only things that would consistently brighten her days since her parents had died.

She soon heard a knocking at her door it was most likely Klahadore. "Miss I have your meal would you mind unlocking your door?" and she was right it was him.

"No thanks. I don't want it." To be honest she was pretty hungry but she just couldn't bear to see Klahadore right now.

"The cook would be sad to hear you say that. He works his hardest to come up with meals that suit your needs."

"Just go away Klahadore. I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Alright Miss I understand your mad that I upset your friends feelings but you have to understand he is no good for a lady of your standing. However I will do as you ask but I'll leave the food outside your door and I would ask that you would consider eating."

And then Kaya began to hear the soft taping of his shoes as he walked away.

She continued crying softly to herself. She began worrying about Usopp and hoping he was ok.

* * *

><p>Luffy, Nami and Zoro were currently walking the path back to the village. But Luffy decided to stop them and said "Hey how about you guys wait here. I'm going to go find Usopp and get him to calm down."<p>

"Alright Luffy just don't take too long I don't want to be sitting here forever." Zoro said as he began to lean against the fence looking like he was about to take a nap.

"Alright guys be back soon." And so Luffy took off in the direction Usopp should be.

Not too long after Luffy left, Nami noticed those three kids from before coming up the road. As they approached she could see the kids recognized them and began running their way.

"YOU OLD HAG WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OUR CAPTAIN!"

Nami's eye twitched at this 'Old Hag!?' She'd show them an old hag and immediately gave all three a swift punch to the back of the head. "What the hell is wrong with you kids going around calling me an old hag!?"

"Sorry…" the three subdued kids said at once. "But if you didn't do anything with our captain where is he then?"

"How should I know? The guy took off running earlier, and our captain is currently out looking for him. He was gonna bring him back here so you'll just have to wait here like us if you want to find your captain."

And so the three kids having no other good ideas simply decided to wait patiently with the scary pirate lady and the green haired guy.

But the five of them eventually noticed an odd man coming from the direction of the village. He was walking backwards for some reason at a relatively slow pace. And so they watched as the strange guy eventually made their way to them.

He was going to keep sliding by when one of the kids spoke up "What's up with you weird guy? Why are you walking backwards?"

He looked towards the three kids and shouted "Hey! Who's calling me a weird guy?! I am not weird!"

Nami spoke up saying "Seem pretty weird to me."

"Don't be stupid! I'm just an ordinary hypnotist!"

Nami couldn't help but think 'What the hell is ordinary about a backwards walking hypnotist?" but before she could voice those thoughts the three kids interrupted.

"H-hypnotist?! Awesome! Show us something! Yeah! Do something!" They all shouted in sequence.

"What?! Don't be dumb! Why should I have to reveal my techniques to a bunch of strangers?!" but before anyone could respond he had suddenly pulled out some weird ring on a string and seemed intent on doing just that. "Alright. Watch this ring closely."

Zoro sounding surprised said "You're gonna to do it?!"

"You'll feel sleepy at the count of 'one, two, Jango'. Alright here we go!"

"One, two, Jango!" And suddenly all four were lying flat on their backs passed out. Three kids and the hypnotist were all out and snoring.

Zoro again said "Geez, what's with this guy?!"

* * *

><p>A while later Luffy finally found Usopp.<p>

He was at the same cliff that he had been the last time he found him. So coming up behind him he announced his presence. "Yo! Here you are!"

Usopp seemed surprised to see Luffy "Oh it's just you! At least say something, will ya?! So what, do you want something?!"

"Yeah I guess I just wanted to see if you were alright? That Klahadore guy really deserved to get punched but it was better that you didn't."

"That damn butler insulting my old man like that!"

"Yeah, I hate that guy too! No matter what anyone says, Yasopp was a great pirate!"

"Yeah, huh?!" Usopp seemed to perk up at this. "In this day and age where pirates are everywhere, I'm proud of my old man for living with his life on the line at sea! Yet, that bastard stomped all over my pride! He'll pay for this!"

Luffy couldn't help but smirk at this. Usopp didn't know how right he was and when he figured out exactly what Kuro was planning it was only going to make him madder. "So what about you and that girl?"

Usopp misinterpreting what Luffy meant spluttered "W-what do you m-mean? T-there is nothing between me and K-Kaya!"

Luffy confused said "I meant are you gonna go see the girl anymore? That butler seemed pretty against it."

Usopp seemingly relieved said "Y-yeah, I dunno… If that butler comes and apologizes to me, I might consider it."

But it was then that Luffy noticed Kuro coming up the coast with Jango close behind. "You mean that butler?"

Usopp looking down said "Yeah, that butler…" but then it hit him "What's he doing out here?!" Usopp seemed surprised and his eyes were wide open staring down at the butler he had nearly slugged not too long ago.

And so the two silently watched from above. Luffy silently urged Usopp to lay flat against the ground seemingly to keep from being spotted. And they began listening in on the conversation between Kuro and Jango.

"Hey, Jango. I told you to avoid doing anything to make you stand out."

"I don't stand out one bit. I'm not weird, either."

"So, preparations for the plan are ready, I hope?"

"Of course captain. We can start anytime. The Rich Girl Assassination Plan!" Jango said shouting out the last part.

Luffy knowing Usopp was about to yell out slapped a hand over his mouth while making a shushing noise. Usopp nodded at this and understood. He began to listen in again towards the traitorous butler and the strange man.

"Don't call it assassination, Jango. That has a bad ring to it."

"Oh. Right. Accident. It's an accident."

Luffy spoke in a hushed tone "Usopp do you think it sounds like they're planning on killing that girl?"

Usopp nodded at this.

"We can't simply kill her. Miss Kaya must perish in an unfortunate accident. Don't mess that up!"

"So basically, on your signal, the men and I storm the village and kill the girl. And then you'll get her inheritance…"

"You fool! You don't understand a thing! How would I, an outsider, inherit Kaya's estate?! Before you kill her you'll use hypnosis to make Kaya write her will and you will make her leave everything to me her ever loyal butler."

"So this is what three years of planning has led to eh? But you sure scared us back then… Captain Kuro."

"Don't call me that. I abandoned that name three years ago. I now want to obtain great sums of money… without the government on my back."

Luffy decided that Usopp has most likely heard all he needs to know. "Hey we need to go warn Kaya about Kuro's plan."

"Your right I've got to protect her from that bastard!" and so silently the two began to sneak off away from the edge. And after they got far enough away began running back towards the mansion.

* * *

><p>On their way there Luffy noticed Usopp had begun crying. Luffy tried to reassure him as best he could. "Look Usopp I know you're worried about what's going to happen but I promise me and my crew will back you up in protecting Kaya and the village. I can defeat Kuro myself when it comes to that."<p>

Usopp looked towards Luffy. He had a stern expression on his face that seemed to hold complete confidence in his words. So Usopp nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Thank you Luffy."

Back with Zoro, Nami and the kids.

One of the kids remarked "Captain's been gone a long time."

Zoro nodded at this "Luffy, too."

One of the kids looking out over the path noticed two figures approaching in the distance.

Soon enough all three had noticed and were shouting "Captain!"

As the two got close Luffy started to slow down to talk to his crew while Usopp kept running ahead to warn Kaya.

"Guys Kuro has shown his plan it's going on tomorrow. We overheard it at the shore so Usopp has gone to warn Kaya. Were gonna help him stop it from happening."

Nami and Zoro nodded at this and prepared to go with Luffy.

One of the kids asked "Wait what should we do then."

Luffy gave this some thought before saying "You guys are need in the village make sure no pirates attack and if they do come warn us."

The three saluting shouted "Aye!" and started towards the town. Luffy, Nami and Zoro started running the same direction passing them by quickly. They had to catch up to Usopp so they left the kids behind.

They soon caught up to Usopp who was seen panting in the middle of the village. As Luffy got close he could tell what Usopp was planning on doing. "Look Usopp it's not going to do any good warning them. They aren't going to believe us. The only thing we can do is protect the village ourselves."

Usopp was first seemed conflicted at this he felt he needed to warn the village. But then it hit him Luffy was right. He came through this village pretty much every day shouting about pirates. There was no way the people were going to believe him. So he reluctantly accepted and the four started running towards the mansion.

And soon they were back at the secret entrance through the hedges. Usopp pulling the cube back and setting it aside went through first. Followed closely by the other three. Luffy stopped Usopp before he could shout out to Kaya. "Look Usopp I think this conversation is something were going to need to do inside. I think she is going to have a hard time believing you while you shout from her windowsill."

Usopp thought about this and couldn't help but think he was probably right so he nodded to show his acceptance. He then began collecting small rocks and tossing them at Kaya's window in hope of getting her attention.

A muffled "Usopp!" could be heard from within the house. And soon the window opened. Kaya looked down from her windowsill and seemed happy to see Usopp and said "Thank goodness! I thought you might never come back…"

"Look Kaya I really need to talk to you about something it is extremely important! Can me and my friends come inside? We really need to discuss what we overheard with you."

Kaya looked reluctant at first but seeing the determination on Usopp's face decided to comply. "Come around to the front and I'll let you in."

And so the four headed around towards the front entrance of the mansion. Soon the doors unlocked and they were ushered inside by Kaya. "Guys look be very quiet Merry is working in the other room so we can talk in my room."

After reaching the solitude of Kayas room she quickly shut and locked her door and turned expectantly to the group. "So what exactly is so important that needed to be discussed right now?"

"Kaya I know you're not going to want to believe me but I need you to trust me on this. I know I lie a lot but what I'm about to tell you I would never make up."

Kaya seemed slightly apprehensive and to be honest she was feeling a little frightened. This wasn't the Usopp she usually knew. "Usopp what is going on?"

"It's about Klahadore he is not who he seems. He has been lying to you so that one day he could get a hold of your fortune."

"Usopp! I know you don't like Klahadore but that is no reason to slander him like this. I know what he said about your father was-"

"Kaya I don't give a damn what he said about my father! At least not since I heard what he was planning to do to you. He plans on getting someone to force you to write a will in his name just so he can kill you and claim the inheritance."

Kaya was stunned at what Usopp was saying. She wanted to believe it was a lie but this wasn't something Usopp would lie about that much she knew. She looked towards the other three that had come with Usopp and the one with the straw hat began to speak.

"Look I know how this must look to you. On one hand you have the man that has taken care of you for the past several years and on the other you have Usopp that has spent just about every day of the past year trying to cheer you up. It isn't an easy choice who to trust and I know you have no reason to trust me. But you know Usopp he would never say this if he didn't think it was true. I saw with my own eyes that Klahadore is currently plotting on killing you and inheriting your money."

Kaya thought on this and while she wasn't entirely sold on the fact that the man that had been loyal to her for three years was apparently trying to kill her. She knew one thing and that was that she could trust Usopp. "So…what do we do then?"

"Well we simply have to wait for Kuro to come back. He has no reason to suspect that were on to them. And then we'll figure out what to do next."

"So we're just going to wait for him to come back then. Alright but what she we do until then?"

"Well we should wait downstairs where there is a view of the front gate. We might want to confront him when he is still outside the mansion. There is going to be a fight and the less things in the way the better."

"Wait your actually going to fight Klahadore?"

"Kaya you're going to need to stop thinking of him as Klahadore now. His name is Captain Kuro."

"A-alright well we should head down stairs then and explain this to Merry."

The group headed down to the main entrance of the mansion and were greeted by Merry or at least Kaya was. "Miss Kaya! What are all these people doing here? You know you should be resting right now. Shall I ask them to leave?"

"No Merry look we have something to tell you… it's about Klahadore."

"What about Klahadore?"

"Well he seems to not be the man that we all thought he was, Klahadore is really a pirate that once went by the name Captain Kuro"

"But Miss Kaya that is simply ridiculous. It is obvious that Usopp and these other ruffians are filling your head with lies. Now why don't you just go back to your room and I will send them away."

"No Merry! I know how unlikely this sounds but no matter how much we don't want to believe it, what if it is true? Are we just going let him get away with it?" Kaya shouted while standing defiantly in front of the group.

"Miss Kaya… if that is the way you truly feel then I will support you." Merry said conceding to the lady of the house.

"Well Klah- I mean Kuro should be getting back soon. And until then we have to simply wait for him to come back. When he does I want to talk with him to hear directly from him whether this is true."

* * *

><p>The group waited for several more hours. It seemed like Kuro wouldn't be getting back into late tonight. But eventually a lone man was spotted outside the gates opening them up to allow himself in. He seemed to be carrying some sort of bag and after having gotten a closer look it was undeniably the man they were waiting for.<p>

The Staw Hats followed by Usopp, Kaya and Merry all walked outside to meet Kuro. And as they did they noticed that the butler had stopped at this point and was watching the group with interest.

"Miss Kaya may I ask why you have let pirate scum into the mansion? And Merry I expected better of you. I am gone for one day and you let these ruffians associate themselves with Miss Kaya?"

"Shut it Captain Kuro we know all about your plan."

Kuro affixed his eyes on the one who spoke the kid with the straw hat. How the hell does this kid know my name? Is it possible he overheard my meeting with Jango?

"Captain Kuro? Why I must say I believe you have me mistaken with someone else. My name is Klaha-"

"Klahadore stop it. Just tell me the honest truth. Is what they say true? That you are planning on killing me and getting my inheritance?"

This time he looked to Kaya. She seemed like she already knew the truth and just simply wanted to hear it from him. Well this was most unfortunate but the plan was still salvageable. After all he only needed to kill the witnesses and leave Kaya alive long enough to get her to write over the will. And so he began to unzip his bag.

"Miss Kaya I have to say I am hurt that you would think I your loyal butler would ever do such a thing. After all I have been loyal for the past three years ever since your father took me in. Don't you trust me?"

As he was talking he had finished opening the bag. Before anyone could respond Kuro had launched himself forward slipping on the gloves as he did so. Looking toward the man that started all this he pulled back his hand preparing to slit the throat of the long nosed fool. But before he could the staw hat kid had placed himself in the way blocking his attack with an arm that seemed to be made completely of ice.

'A devil fruit power?' Kuro thought to himself. This might be slightly more difficult then he initially intended. He launched his other hand forward only for it to be caught by his other hand. 'This boy is fast. Almost as fast as me even.'

But he started to feel an intense heat were the man had grabbed his other hand. Looking down he noticed the kids arm was coated in magma. Pulling himself free he jumped back. This fight was definitely going to be difficult. However his claws that had been touched by the magma were useless now the metal had started to liquefy under the heat and he was forced to drop the glove.

He watched the staw hat kid with new appreciation. He had underestimated this kid. He watched as the kid slowly started to walk towards him intending to continue the fight it seemed. But he was stopped when Kaya shouted out.

"Klahadore how could you?!"

Kuro smirked at this. She was still calling him by the name she had known him by. He looked towards her and was surprised to see her brandishing a flintlock pistol. It was the one her late father had kept in a display.

"I w-wont let you hurt my friends Klahadore!"

"Tcch… Are you really going to shoot me Kaya? I have been your loyal servant for three years and you are just going to cut me down in cold blood?" At this Kuro let out a cruel laugh. He began to affix his glasses with his one gloved hand. "I think we both know you don't have the strength to-"

And suddenly a shot rang out in the silent night.

Kuro felt a thud followed by an intense pain in his chest. He looked down to see a hole that was now spurting blood. He was suddenly feeling weak and fell to his knees. He looked back at Kaya who was now crying and weakly holding the smoking pistol.

Where had he gone wrong? His plan had been all but assured to succeed. Looking towards the three people that had only arrived at the mansion he realized it must have been them. These three nobodies had somehow thrown a wrench into his plan. But he didn't have any time left to dwell on this. He was feeling weaker by the second and his heart was stopping. Kuro realized that he was dying.

With his last breath he let out a raspy "Kaya…" and he fell to the ground.

Captain Kuro the man of a hundred plans was dead.

Kaya dropped the gun and continued sobbing falling to her knees as she did so.

Luffy looked between Kaya and Kuro. He was stunned.

'This isn't how it happened before.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

><p>Luffy wasn't sure what to do. He had just watched Kaya put a hole through Kuro. Where had she gotten the gun? He assumed the last time she had picked it up from one of the unconscious pirates. But that wasn't the case apparently.<p>

Usopp however was the first to react he rushed to Kayas side and tried to sooth her. "Kaya are you alright?" Kaya grabbed on to Usopp and started crying into his shoulder.

"I-I killed him…" Kaya stuttered still crying into Usopp's shoulder. "I just didn't want him to hurt you."

"Look Kaya you did the right thing. It was either him or all of us and you made the right choice." Usopp said reassuring her.

Merry was shell shocked he couldn't even move. Sweet innocent Kaya had just killed a man before his very eyes. He was unsure what to do, but was glad Usopp seemed to know. Did that make him a failure as a butler? He wasn't totally sure.

"Why don't you two stay here my crew and I will go deal with the pirates." Luffy said. "I'll take care of Kuro too."

Usopp nodded silently thanking Luffy. And so the three Straw Hats left with Luffy slinging Kuros body over his shoulder.

Once they'd gotten a fair distance away from the mansion Nami spoke up "So why do I have the feeling that you weren't expecting Kaya to shoot him."

"Because you're right. I wasn't expecting that. It didn't happen before." Luffy stated simply. He had begun to realize that even the little things he had changed had led to a much bigger difference to the past.

"So what, does that mean that what happened before doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen again?" Zoro asked.

"No I think if I acted exactly the same as I did before things would've happen the same. But the thing is I haven't been acting the same ever since I came back I've been making changes. Nothing massive I guess but even the little changes I've made have had enough of an impact to cause Kaya to pull the trigger of that gun."

"So what are you going to do now?" Zoro asked. Zoro at this point had pretty much accepted that Luffy had come from the future. He had no reason to think he was lying and the things he'd seen seemed to only prove it.

"Well I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing I guess. Try to make the past better. But from now on I can't expect to always know what's going to happen I guess." Zoro simply nodded at this.

* * *

><p>Luffy continued the course to the north inlet leading his crew with him. He couldn't help but be slightly unnerved at the dead body now slung over his soldier. While he had dealt with death before he had yet to actually kill someone. And carrying a dead enemy just seemed sort of morbid.<p>

But they were approaching where the Black Cat pirates would be landing. And just in time too as the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. As they got to the top of the ramp they could see a large ship pulling into the inlet. And soon enough pirates began unloading by the dozen.

"Well guys I guess it's time to tell them the bad news huh?"

And so the three began making their way down the ramp. So far no one had noticed them. Jango seemed to be giving some sort of speech to the crew. But that ended as soon as they heard someone shout from up the ramp.

"Hey you guys might want to turn around and leave this island." Luffy shouted to the odd pirates who for the most part were dressed like cats.

Jango recognizing a couple of the people from before shouted back to them "Oh? And why would we do that?"

"Well your captains dead so I'd say that'd be a pretty good reason."

The group of pirates began murmuring to themselves "Captain Kuro's dead?"

Jango shouted back "Oh? And what makes you think well believe something like that?"

"Well if you want proof here it is." And with that Luffy threw the body to the ground. It rolled down the hill some way but eventually stopped face up. The Black Cat's recognized it as being there captain.

"H-how the hell did you manage to kill Captain Kuro?" Jango said sounding unnerved.

"Well to be honest I wasn't the one who did it but your captain died of a bullet to the chest."

"Someone shot him? Who was it?"

"That's not important. What is important is that you guys either turn around and leave or were going to have a problem."

"Hey Captain Jango! This ship over here has loads of treasure in it. Should we take it aboard?"

'Uh oh Nami isn't going to be pleased.' Luffy thought to himself. And as he looked over to Nami he could see she was visibly fuming.

"LIKE HELL YOU'RE TAKING MY TREASURE!" turning to Luffy and Zoro she screamed "YOU TWO GO KICK THEIR ASSES!"

"Well guys looks like this isn't your day. C'mon Zoro we've got work to do."

Luffy channeled some of his ice powers to his feet and began sliding down the slope towards the enemy pirates. Zoro drawing his swords took off after him running close behind.

As Luffy slid down the path small trails of ice lay in his wake were his feet had touched. This is actually pretty fun Luffy thought. As he got closer he noticed that the pirates were starting to draw their weapons preparing to face the two of them.

Jango was spinning one of his discs in the air and soon enough let it loose towards Luffy. Luffy seeing the disc leave his hand prepared himself and as the disc impacted it was met with magma. The disc quickly melted and poured to the ground in a metallic trail as Luffy continued to slide towards the pirates.

One of the pirates ran forward to meet Luffy with what looked to be a stone hammer. He raised it above his head and prepared to smash Luffy over the head. But Luffy flipping himself over while channeling his ice powers to his right hand as well as hardening his legs with ice and haki. Sliding along the ground on his hand he began spinning around whirling his legs at his speeds like a top.

And with a shout of "Hie Hie no Koma!"(Chilly Chilly Spinning Top) he started knocking some pirates into next week. First came the guy with the hammer, having already started swinging it towards Luffy the hammer connected with one of his feet shattering the stone hammer instantly. The pirate didn't have time to be surprised however as the other leg came swinging around hitting him right in the face knocking him unconscious.

And so it went for several more pirates until he began to lose momentum. Launching himself back on to his feet he began sending several haki infused punches towards many of his enemies. He didn't really want to severely harm any of these guys though so he refrained from using his devil powers specifically his magma ones. Looking to Zoro he seemed to be dealing with the enemy pirates just as effectively taking them down left and right.

Jango began realizing that they were sure to lose this fight if he didn't bring the Nyaban Brothers out. "SHAM BUCHI GET DOWN HERE AND HELP US!"

And as soon as the call was made two men were suddenly at Jango's side one being a little shorter and stockier then Jango and the other being taller and bulkier then the rest of the crew. "You called Captain Jango?" the smaller one asked. "You cal-" the big one began but was suddenly interrupted as a foot completely made of ice connected with his head sending him crashing into a boulder smashing it to pieces.

Sham furious at the attack on his brother launched himself at Luffy but was suddenly intercepted by Zoro. Zoro had blocked the Nyaban brothers attack with two of his swords as he slashed at the man's torso dealing severe damage. Sham unable to withstand the injury collapsed as well leaving only one black cat pirate still standing.

Jango held up his hands and began backing away from the monsters that had just destroyed his crew. "Hey hey let's not get to hasty here. I'm sure we could come to some sort of agreement."

But Luffy was sick of the man and simply sent a wave of haki towards him knocking him unconscious just like the rest of his crew. Zoro sheathed his swords, and Luffy waved Nami over now that the fighting was done.

"So what should we do now?" Nami asked after she had rejoined the two.

"Well I guess we might as well loot their ship I guess." Luffy said scratching his head.

"How about you two focus on collecting supplies while I get their treasure." Nami said the telltale Berries flashing in her eyes.

"Shishishi alright Nami that's fine with us."

* * *

><p>A little over an hour later the three straw hats had finished looting the boat. They had found three bags worth of treasure and now had two bags filled with food and other supplies. Added to the two bags of treasure they already had they must have had well over 20 million Berries on them.<p>

"Well I think we have everything we need from the ship. What are we going to do about these guys?"

Luffy thought about this for a minute. If he let them go they might just loot the village harming innocents as they did so.

"Hey Nami how far is the nearest Marine base?"

"Well I think the closest one is just a few hours north of here why? Are you planning on calling them?"

"Well we can't just leave them here they're likely to hurt the people in the village especially now that we've looted their ship. So if I can lock them up inside their ship by freezing it shut that should hold them till a marine ship can get here."

"Well if that's what you want to do then fine but I'm not hauling those guys up there you and Zoro can do that." Nami said crossing her arms looking defiantly back.

"Sheesh alright Zoro and I will load them up you just watch them to make sure none of them start moving." And so Luffy and Zoro started dumping the unconscious men in the main part of the ship. After having done so Luffy began the tasking of freezing off the only entrance. He made it thick enough so that none of the men should be able to break through. Especially since they had gone through the trouble of disarming all of them beforehand.

"I think I'll leave a little message for the marines."

"Alright Luffy just be quick about it I don't want to be here all day."

Luffy used his magma powers to super heat one of his fingers. He then began burning a message into the wood of the ship. After a short while he stood back and admired his work.

"Heh well it'll certainly give the marines something to talk about." Zoro said smirking. "Although your drawing skills could use some work…"

"Shishishi well I never claimed to be an artist. But at least it gets the point across."

"Alright Luffy well what do you want to do about the dead guy should we stick him on the boat with the rest of his crew?"

At this Luffy grew somber. 'That's right Kuro's dead this time.' he thought to himself. Kaya had shot him. "Well I guess that's probably best. The marines will probably be interested that the man they executed wasn't Kuro."

So while Zoro and Nami head up the hill to wait at the top, Luffy brought the corpse of Kuro up to the ship and propped him against the frozen doorway. He laid the only remaining Cat Claw on Kuro's body so the marines would have no question about the man's identity. And then he made his way to join his crew.

"So Luffy should we start heading to the mansion?"

"Yeah I guess we still have to get a new ship so we should bring all our supplies and treasure with us."

* * *

><p>And so the three laden with treasure and supplies began making their way towards the mansion. When they finally arrived there was no sign of the three they had left behind so they must have headed inside. Stepping over the blood stain left by Kuro as they entered the mansion.<p>

The first thing they noticed was Usopp and Kaya sitting on one of the couches in the entrance room. Kay was wrapped in a blanket and was currently leaning against Usopp. Kaya seemed to have calmed down however and was currently drinking what looked to be hot tea. They were just keeping to themselves as no one was saying anything.

"Hey guys we took care of the pirates. They won't be bothering the village now."

Usopp looking up took notice of them for the first time. He hadn't noticed them come in. He simply nodded to them. "Thank you. I'm not sure what would have happened if you three hadn't helped us."

"He would have killed us." Kaya said simply.

Luffy had to agree with this. Kuro would have done so. Usopp would have likely gotten in the way of Kuro's plans so he would have been killed. And there would have been no stopping him at that point Kaya would have been killed as well as Merry. And most likely the pirates attack would have resulted in a lot of the villagers' deaths.

"I don't regret killing him." At this point Kaya looked to Luffy "D-does that make me a bad person?"

"Kaya…" Usopp said concerned for Kaya.

"Well that depends on why you killed him." Luffy said returning her stare. "Did you do it for revenge? Because he was planning on stealing your money? Or did you do it because in doing so you'd protect the people you care about. Like Usopp and Merry."

Kaya looked at Usopp and answered "I did it because I didn't want to lose the people I cared about."

Usopp face turned a little red at this but smiled all the same.

"Well then I say that makes you a good person then. You wanted to protect those you love and so you did what you had to."

At this both Kaya and Usopp turned red and looked away from each other but they still kept their close proximity.

"Y-you three still need a ship right?" Kaya asked. "Well if you'd like there is one I could give you guys. It's not huge but it was designed by Merry and is a very good ship I am told."

"Thank you very much! We gladly accept your gift!" Luffy said grinning.

"And what about you Usopp? Would you like to become a pirate?"

"Yeah I do. I want to become a brave warrior of the sea just like my father." Usopp said the conviction showing in his eyes.

"So would you like to join our crew? We need a sniper and I hear you're a pretty good with that slingshot."

"Yes! I want to join your crew!"

"Well then welcome to the straw hats pirates!" Luffy said looking exited.

However what no one noticed was a look of sadness that came over Kayas face. Although it was quickly replaced by a smile. She was happy for Usopp even if it meant she wasn't going to see him for a long time.

Seeing as it was getting late Kaya offered them a place to stay at their mansion. After conversing with his crew Luffy readily agreed. They made their way to the mansion, and dropped off the treasure and supplies they had collected from their ship and Kuro's. Merry directed them to their separate rooms and it wasn't long before the Straw Hat's and company were fast asleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning the group found themselves at one of the other inlets of islands. And standing there was Merry having brought the ship out of storage. Joining him were the three members of the Usopp Pirates, Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman.<p>

Usopp seeing his crew smiled. He was glad they would be here to see him off. "Usopp Pirates!"

"Aye Captain!" the three of them shouted.

"I am leaving to become a pirate guys! So I'm sorry but the Usopp pirates are disbanded." Usopp was grinning but his mouth was twitching betraying his sadness at having to leave behind his nakama.

"We do not accept!" They all shouted.

"Guys…"

"We will never disband the Usopp pirates! But we know you need to leave. After all a captain has to be a brave warrior of the sea. So while you are gone we still be Usopp pirates for one you come back!" Pilman was the one speaking but all three had the same look of determination.

"Aye aye Usopp p-pirates!" at this Usopp was visibly tearing up, although not wanting to cry in front of his men he held his tears back. And then he turned to Kaya.

"K-kaya... I'm going to miss you, but this is an opportunity I can't refuse. I need to set sail and have real adventures of my own. And when I get back I'll have all sorts of new stories to tell. And they'll be the truth this time!"

"I know that you must go, but I don't want you to leave me." Hearing this Usopp looked down and away from Kaya not sure what to say.

"But I won't ask you to stay." Turning to Luffy she said something surprising. "I-I want to become a pirate!"

Luffy gave her a serious look.

Merry took a step forward surprised "Miss Kaya…"

But Luffy interrupted saying "Are you sure? A pirate's life is hard. And you may very well die out there on the sea. Do you have the strength to protect your nakama, and if be lay down your life to protect them?"

Kaya slightly paled at this "While I am not quite strong enough now… I will strive to be strong enough! And if I have to I will lay my life on the line!"

Luffy continued looking at her judging her conviction. Then he gave an ear splitting grin and said "Welcome to the Straw Hats!"

Both Merry and Usopp seemed concerned at this however. "Miss Kaya are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yes Merry I am sure. I am sorry but it looks like I won't be back for a long time. Will you be ok here?" Kaya said concern showing for her friend.

"Yes Miss Kaya. I will continue watching the mansion in your absence." He then turned to Usopp "Mr. Usopp I would ask you to ensure Miss Kaya comes back one day unarmed. Yourself as well."

At this Usopp nodded "I promise!"

"Well then I suppose this is good bye then." At this Merry was beginning to cry "I look forward to the day the two of you return!"

So the five straw hats climbed aboard the Going Merry with their supplies and treasure. They began preparing to set sail and before they did all five waved to their friends being left behind. The Usopp Pirates and Merry.

"GOODBYE EVERYONE! One day well be back and we'll have tons of stories to tell!"

"Bye Captain Usopp! Bye Kaya! Bye Straw Hats!"

And with their farewells done they launched the ship looking forward to their next big adventure.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

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><p>AN: So before you guys get reading the new chapter I just wanted you guys to know that I did some edits to all my previous chapters. It's mostly just grammar and minor changes to story that I felt read better. Honestly chapter 1 is probably the only one I'd say that you need to reread but thats just because I changed a bit of the end.<p>

Other then that hopefully you enjoy the next chapter.

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><p>Luffy and company began exploring their new home. Luffy walked up to the bow of the Going Merry and hoisted his way up so he could sit on his favorite spot. He affectionately rubbed Merry's figurehead.<p>

"I missed you Merry. I'm glad I get to have one last adventure with you." Luffy said teary eyed.

He knew it wasn't going to last forever. One day Merry would be in too rough of shape to sail any further and he would have to say goodbye once again. But today he was happy to sail with an old friend.

Usopp and Kaya could be found at the stern watching as their island grew smaller and smaller. They shared a small smile thinking back on their time on Gecko Island. They knew it might be a long time before they'd ever see their home again but they were excited for the future.

Usopp wanted to experience real adventures. Like ones he had both told to Kaya and ones his father was likely experiencing every day. He also had a hope at the back of his mind that he might one day see his father, and he hoped that on that day his father would look at him and be proud. He was going to become a brave warrior of the sea just like his dad.

Kaya wanted to see the world herself. She had begun to realize just how small her world really was. She hadn't left her home since she was a little girl and even before she hadn't ever left beyond the protection of the fence surrounding her families estate. But now she was sailing off with her best friend in the world. She hoped to see all this world had to offer. And to hopefully experience adventures as grand as Usopp's tales.

Although Kaya couldn't help but feel nervous about the coming adventures. Would she be strong enough? Or would she be holding everyone back?

Usopp and Kaya turned at the sound of someone coming up the stairs to find Luffy coming to join them.

"Hey so are you guys settling in ok?" Luffy said scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah were just getting used to the idea that were headed out to see. But so far were doing alright."Usopp said smiling at Kaya.

"Hey so Kaya I have to say I'm surprised that you wanted to come. What made you want to become a pirate with Usopp?" Luffy was interested to hear her response. He wondered what made the difference between now to make her want to come. Although he had to admit he was always looking forward to more nakama.

"Well... to be honest I guess there were a lot of small reasons that just added up to convincing me to go. The past day with you guys has made me realize how little I've truly experienced on our island.

"But more then that I guess I wanted to experience for myself the adventures Usopp and you guys will go on instead of waiting for Usopp to come back one day and tell me all about it. I-I also would have really missed Usopp... I'm not sure what I'd do without him to be honest. He has always been a great source of strength for me." at this Kaya could feel her face flush a little bit with that small confession.

Usopp himself was surprised to hear that but was glad he meant so much to Kaya. He grinned but sported a light red tint to his face as well.

But then Kaya grew somber as a small frown crossed her face. "I guess another reason was because... I didn't really want to stay in that house anymore. It was hard to not look at that house and think of Klahadore and... well he turned out to be someone completely different. A monster... a monster that I killed."

Usopp put an arm around Keya to comfort her. "Kaya... I'm sorry that you had to do what you did. But I know that it was the right thing to do even if it was a terrible decision to have to make."

Kaya smile came back a little bit "I know but I don't think I want to have to be in that position again. Which is why I have made my decision on what I can do to help make this crew strong." She said looking up at Luffy.

"Oh and what's that?" Luffy asked cocking his head to the side.

"I want to become a doctor! I've always wanted to learn how to help heal people. And the past day has helped me realize my dream. I don't want to hurt people if I can avoid it, but I can be proud if I help make sure everyone here is healthy and strong." She said with conviction.

Luffy smiled at this "Alright sounds good to me!" Luffy thought to himself 'And I know just the doctor to help train you.' "We can always try and pick up books and supplies when we land in order to help you learn more skills."

"Yeah that would be great! Although I did bring some stuff along from my families library in order to help me get started. I have already read some of the basics like common illnesses of the sea and treating minor wounds."

"That's great Kaya! After all if I'm going to become a great warrior of the sea I'm going to need you to help patch my wounds." Usopp said trying to strike a heroic pose. Usopp was also glad because he didn't really want to see Kaya in harm's way. He also knew that she was far from a violent person so he was glad she wouldn't be directly fighting.

Kaya blushing a little bit smiled back at Usopp glad he supported her dream.

"Alright well I'm going to go talk to Nami and Zoro and make sure they're doing alright. Talk to you guys later." Luffy said nodding goodbye.

Usopp and Kaya turned back to watch the last of their old home fading into the distance. Neither really paying attention to the fact that they were still holding each other close.

Luffy found them both in the lounge. Nami was currently going over some charts she had. Likely plotting their course, and Zoro was currently snoozing in a shady corner of the room.

"Hey Luffy." Nami said still looking at the charts. Zoro with one eye open gave a small nod of greeting.

"So How's everyone holding up then?"

"Well pretty good now that we've got the new ship. I'm really looking forward to being able to sleep in my own cot." Nami said.

Zoro just nodded.

"Good to hear. Well alright Nami our next goal is to get a cook for our ship. There's a floating restaurant around this area. It's called Baratie." Luffy said point out a section of ocean on her charts. "I figure once we get there and get ourselves a cook we should make Cocoyasi village our next destination."

"So you're really serious about taking down Arlong huh?" Nami said looking at him seriously.

"Yup I promised you in the past that I was gonna take that bastard down and I plan on following through." Luffy said giving her a wide toothy smile.

Nami smiled at that "Thank you Luffy... This really means a lot to me."

He just smiled and nodded in response. Looking out the window he could see the last bit of sunlight dipping below the horizon. With a loud yawn Luffy announced that he was heading to bed. His crew acknowledged this and some weren't far behind going to sleep themselves.

Luffy now in the men's quarters walked to his cot and hopped in. From under his cot he pulled out a small chest he had looted from Kuro's ship. He had replaced its previous contents with the Gommu Gummo no Mi.

He was wondering what to do with the fruit. He supposed he should keep it for now but was wondering if any of his future crew would be able to use it. Thinking back he couldn't really imagine giving it to the crew he had before. They all had their own styles and he couldn't think of any of them that would benefit from rubber powers.

He didn't think Kaya should be the one to use it either since she didn't seem to want to be much of a fighter. So with a shrug of his shoulders he closed the lid and stuck the chest back under his cot.

After closing his eyes and bundling up it didn't take long for the rocking of the ship and the swaying of the cot to lull him to sleep.

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><p>Back on Gecko Island...<p>

A shout was heard from the crow's nest of the navy ship. "Captain! I can see the pirate ship on the north side of the island!"

"Good! Are you able to identify the ship?" the captain shouted back.

"No sir. It doesn't match any pirate ships that are known to sail East Blue."

"Alright men!" The captain addressed his crew. "Land near that ship were going aboard."

"Captain permission to speak." saluted one of his crew.

"Permission granted."

"Do we know who reported the ship Captain?"

"Unfortunately no. We were given no name from the caller so keep an eye out for anything suspicious. For all we know this could be a trap."

"Aye aye Captain!" his crew announced back.

After dropping anchor a small boat was sent over to the ship to investigate. After finding no living pirates in the area or on deck one of the crew shouted over to the captain. "Captain! There seems to be a message here that you might want to see for yourself! There's also one corpse but he doesn't look like a pirate except for this strange weapon."

The captain intrigued had his men prepare another boat which he and a few of his crew used to sail over to the large ship. On his way over the captain studied the ships figurehead.

"Hmm... a black cat. Could it be?" He murmured to himself.

After boarding the ship he was directed to the figure leaning against some kind of ice wall where the doorway to the cabin should have been.

The captain studied the strange man. He had the clothing of a civilian. Likely a butler but that weapon... He then looked at the man's face and realization hit him. "No... it couldn't be..."

"C-captain?" one of his men asked looking confused.

"T-this... This man is Kuro... Kuro of a hundred plans. I recognize that weapon it's of his signature cat claws. But he's supposed to be dead what is he doing here?"

Regaining his composure he looked towards one of his men and pointed at him. "You get back to the ship and dig Kuro's bounty out. Then I want you to take a few men and go to the village, and start asking around if anyone recognizes him."

If he was right there was going to be serious hell to pay if a man like this escaped the Navy's justice.

One of his men got his attention and pointed out the message that was left for the navy.

The captain studied it his face adopted a grim look to it.

"Get command on the horn. Looks like we have a new bounty to issue..."

In front of him was the crude drawing of the jolly roger only it was wearing some kind of hat. And it had a simple message below it.

Straw Hat Luffy was here!

Future King of the Pirates!

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><p>It had been a few days since they had set sail from Gecko Island. The days were pretty slow so far. Nami had correctly predicted smooth sailing and it had been nothing but exactly that. They hadn't encountered any other ships either so there wasn't even any fighting to do. Luffy was extremely bored.<p>

Over the past couple days Luffy had begun to show his crew the workings of Haki. He felt it would be in everyone's interest if they began to learn how to control it. he only focused on Observation and Armament Haki. Since those two had the potential to be learned by everyone.

He didn't expect anyone to be able to actually demonstrate the ability for quite a while. It had taken him two years to master it and that was under an excellent tutor. So it might take a while for everyone to be able to learn, but it was still a valuable skill for his crew to know.

He had demonstrated both to his crew, much to the astonishment of Usopp and Kaya. He had Zoro come at him with his sword while he had his eyes closed and was able to show how he could effortlessly dodge all of Zoro's blows. Then utilizing armament haki he blocked the last of Zoro's attacks. His arm coated in a shiny black substance.

Zoro and Nami had already seen some of his skills before so while his demonstration was quite amazing for the newest crew members. It hadn't been the peak of what they'd seen so far.

And they'd made their own flag. Luffy had tried his hand at it but it hadn't been any better than his previous rendition. Usopp created the finished product which looked just like it had before. The Straw Hats Jolly Roger was flying proud once again.

But other than the occasional training session the crew was mostly keeping to themselves with the exception of Usopp and Kaya.

Luffy spent most of his time on Merry's figurehead thinking about the past and the coming future.

Nami spent her time correcting their course and checking charts. When she wasn't doing that she would lounge on deck reading and sun bathing.

Zoro split his time pretty evenly between napping and training. Whether it was with weights, swords, or Luffy's Haki training.

Usopp had set up a little area on deck in order to work on his slingshot as well as his special ammos that he kept stocked in his bag. It also had an area where Kaya could mix together her healing mixtures. Kaya had also set up a chair nearby in which she could read the books she had collected in order to improve her medical skills.

She had also begun mixing simple healing powders and pastes that could help close wounds and relive pain. It was helpful that supplies that she needed for the simple mixtures could be found in Usopp's stash. Although in the future she was going to need to find a suppliers for her own ingredients that would work for more potent healing mixtures.

Luffy was currently watching a far off rock formation jutting out of the water. As the ship got closer he began to recognize it. Those two bounty hunters should be docked on the other side of the rock. So hopping off the lamb's head he walked over to the lounge where Nami currently was.

"Hey Nami do you think you could change the course to sail by that giant rock."

Nami looked out the window to study the formation. "I guess Luffy but why would we do that? There isn't anywhere to really land there." she asked looking back to her captain.

"Shishishi just trust me on this Nami it won't be a waste of time I promise."

"Well... alright but I swear if your messing with me..." she said giving him a look that promised it wouldn't be pretty if that was the case.

"Thanks a lot Nami!" he said as he ran back outside.

He hopped back on his perch while waiting for the ship to slowly pull up to land.

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><p>As they circled around the rock a small ship could be seen anchored to the side. One person could be seen looking back at their ship. As they got closer Luffy could tell it was Johnny although he looked a little nervous to see a pirate ship coming towards him.<p>

At this point the crew minus Nami had come to the side of the ship to see what Luffy was looking at.

As soon as Johnny could see Zoro a shout of "BIG BRO ZORO?!" could be heard coming from the small ship.

Zoro surprised to see Johnny here shouted back "Johnny? What are you doing here, and where's Yosaku?"

At this Johnny began crying profusely "He's sick! Although he was full of life up until a few days ago, now he keeps getting pale suddenly an then fainting! I have no idea what's causing it..."

Luffy called out to him "Bring him adored then! We've got someone who can look after him."

Kaya ran off to get her supplies and by the time she came back Yosaku and Johnny were on board the ship. Yosaku had been laid down on a blanket. He was breathing heavily and bleeding from a stomach wound.

"What caused the injury on his stomach?" Kaya asked while flipping through her books and looking at Yosaku's symptoms.

"Well they're just old wounds but they reopened after he got sick." Johnny said still bawling.

"Usopp I need you to peel off those bandages. We need to redress his wounds and I'll use some of my ointment to help seal the wound. Luffy go in the cabin and find some limes."

"Aye aye!" Luffy shouted heading towards where he knew a barrel of limes to be.

As Luffy went to find the limes, Usopp began doing as he was told he'd stripped off the old bandages and Kaya began the process of spreading the ointment over his wound. Then together they wrapped new bandages over his torso.

By this time Luffy had grabbed the barrel and had started heading back with it.

Johnny looking to Kaya asked "Do you know what's wrong with him? Can you cure him?"

Kaya smiled at him and nodded. "It's scurvy. Once we get some nutrients from the limes in him, he should be fine in a few days."

Johnny over excited now began shouting in excitement "Thank you big-sis! Thank you!"

Once Luffy came back with the barrel Kaya directed him and Usopp to begin squeezing out the juice into Yosaku's mouth.

After a while Yosaku regained consciousness but Kaya told him he needed to stay laying down for awhile unless he wanted to reopen his wounds and get sick again.

"Thank you so much big-sis! Those nutrients revived me!" Yosaku said with a big grin on his face.

While this was happening Nami had been watching from the upper railing. From where she was she could tell that it was probably scurvy. She had picked that up from a life of sailing with civilians and pirates and everything in between. Although she was impressed with how Kaya treated the wound she wouldn't have known to do that herself.

Now that Yosaku wasn't on death's door they properly introduced themselves to the pirate crew. They also told them how they used to be colleagues of 'Big Bro Zoro'.

They were surprised to see that Zoro had become a pirate and they asked who the captain of the ship was.

Luffy pointed to himself and introduced himself and his crew.

Johnny thinking back to a new bounty poster he had gotten asked "Wait Luffy? As in Straw Hat Luffy?"

Luffy cocking his head said "Yeah that's me. Heard of me before?"

Johnny began rifling through his bounties and found the one he was looking for.

"Straw Hat Luffy 20 million berries! That's you!" Johnny exclaimed in shock.

The other crew gave a start in surprise as well. '20 million?' was a common thought.

"Wow cool I have a bounty! And one that high already!" Luffy said excitement evident in his voice.

"Wait what's the picture look like?" Usopp asked.

"That's the thing it's just this weird crummy drawing. Looks like some kid drew it." Johnny said showing the picture to the crew.

'Oh god that's the picture they chose' they all thought. It was a picture of the wood burning Luffy had done back at the Black Cat's ship.

"Well at least it says here their looking for an actual photo. Not this crummy drawing..."

At this Luffy face faulted under his breath he said "It's not that bad a drawing..."

"Luffy what's that bounty for?" Nami asked. 'That's the same price as the one on Arlong's head.'

Zoro answered "It's probably because of the message he left on Kuro's ship. He said 'Straw Hat Luffy was here' so they probably just wanted to assign a bounty to whoever went by that name."

"Cool!" Luffy said. "I wonder how high I can get it before we leave East Blue?"

At this Nami hit him over the head "Idiot! We don't need the marines coming after us more than they already are!"

Luffy just pouted at this.

But he got over it quickly and asked Nami "So how far are we from Baratie?"

"Well given your directions before it should only be an hour or two north, north-east of here." Nami said.

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><p>And she was right. A few hours in the right direction and they spotted a large ship on the horizon.<p>

As it came into focus the crew gathered to get a good look at it.

Usopp using his special goggles examined it closely "It looks like a giant fish!"

And he was right as they got closer and closer they could see the fishes head jutting out from the bow of the ship and even the rudder was shaped like a tail fin.

But as they were busy looking at the ship in front of them they didn't notice the marine ship behind them until it had pulled right up to the side.

A man in a white striped suit walked up to the side of their ship. "I'm Iron Fist Fullbody, Lieutenant at Navy Headquarters!"

Pointing at the flag he asked "Are you associated with Straw Hat Luffy?"

Luffy carelessly picking his nose with his pinky said "Yeah that's me. I'm the captain of the Straw Hat pirates."

A flash went off and nearby a navy officer could be seen with a camera.

"Tcch it's a shame really. You only just got your bounty and they want even be able to put your picture to it before I bring you in." Fullbody said looking down on them.

"Men open fire on their ship!" Fullbody announced to his men.

A cannon could be seen poking out from the said of their ship taking aim at the Straw Hats.

Luffy laughed "Leave it to me!"

With a resounding boom a cannon ball was fired straight at the crew.

Luffy jumped at it with inhuman speed and with a bit of haki to strengthen his leg kicked it straight back at Fullybody's ship. Although at this point Fullbody and his female companion had already boarded a small vessel to head towered Baratie.

It slammed into the side of the ship tearing up part of the upper deck and destroying the cannon that had fired it. While the ship was still sailable it had done an extraordinary amount of damage.

Luffy was just glad he hadn't accidently fired it at the restaurant this time.

Fullbody saw the extent of the damage to his ship as his crew started rowing him towards the restaurant. 'What the hell did the pirates open fire before my men could?'

When they walked in to the restaurant Fullbody demanded to speak to the captain of the ship. The head chef after hearing his outburst started walking over to the navy lieutenant.

"What seems to be the problem here?" He asked looking none too pleased.

"I demand to speak to the captain of this ship! As a Lieutenant of the Navy I am commandeering this ship!"

"Like hell you are!" Zeff shouted at Fullbody.

"What you dare..." But was silenced by an intense stare from Zeff.

"Listen here punk. You have two choices. You can either sit down, shut up and eat. Or you can get the hell off my ship."

At this point the straw hats had tied up Johnny and Yasoku's ship and were heading inside the restaurant.

"Those are the pirates that fired on my ship! Surely you're not planning on serving them are you?!" Fullbody demanded.

The head chef began look over the newcomers. "Depends. Do you have money?" Zeff asked.

Luffy looking to Nami raised an eyebrow. She nodded yes, and Luffy turning back to Zeff said "Yup!"

"Then you can stay." Zeff stated simply.

"What!" stomping over to Luffy he shoved his fist in Luffy's face. "When I leave here I'm going to have them raise that bounty on your head so high that..."

But he was unable to finish the threat as Zeff getting to annoyed at the man's behavior used his peg leg to remove him from his restaurant. At a very high speed.

He smashed through the wind and could be seen crashing into the marines waiting by his boat. With an unconscious captain in their care they high tailed it back to their ship.

Zeff turned to the girl to find her being led off by his notorious womanizer of a sous chef. Likely going to be given a bottle of wine on his dime. "Damn brat.."

Turning back to the pirates he said "Find a place to sit. A waiter will be with you shortly." And with that he began heading back into the kitchen. "Tcch these brat's will be the death of me..."

And it was at that point that a man with a gun walked into the restaurant.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

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><p>The man with the pistol calmly looked around as he began walking towards an empty table. The atmosphere was filled with tension. He sat down and propped his feet up on the table. And he stated simply. "Anything's fine. Bring me food."<p>

At this point a giant man with a creepy smile had walked over to the table. "This is a restaurant, right?"

"Welcome, ya damn crook." said Patty who was one of the cooks on the ship.

"I'll say it only one more time, so listen good. Bring me food." Gin said getting annoyed at the man's attitude.

"Um, sir, I'm terribly sorry, but do you have money for that?" Patty replied.

Gin with a cold look crossing his features held up the gun to Patty's head. "Would a bullet do?"

Unfazed an angry look came over Patty "So you don't have money, right?"

And before Gin could react Patty brought his massive forearms down crushing both the table and Gin.

Zeff having been calmly watching from the kitchen entrance got annoyed "Patty, that dumb ass! He broke the chair..."

"If you can't pay for the food, You're not a customer." Patty said looking down on Gin.

Around the restaurant people were cheering for Patty's quick intervention.

At this point Sanji having enough walked towards Gin and Patty. "Alright sir how about we step outside and get you some fresh air." he stated more then asked.

Patty getting annoyed simply stared silently at Sanji before turning around towards the Straw Hat's.

"Welcome, ya damn crook." he said with the same creepy smile as before. "You have money right?"

While Patty greeted the Straw Hat's, Sanji began leading Gin outside. He leaned Gin against a railing. "You wait here. I'll be back with some food."

And before Gin could respond Sanji had already headed back inside.

Sanji noticed a small table being set up for those pirates from before. He only wished he couldn't have gotten to them before Patty. After all two beautiful woman deserved to be served with elegance and class. Not by that shitty-bastard of a cook.

But alas he continued walking into the kitchen where he began to work on the man's food. As he was working Patty came in and ordered some of the other chef's around. From the sound of it, it seemed like that table had ordered a small feast. Who the hell could eat so much food?

And as he finished up his plate he headed back outside where he silently handed him the plate of food. Sanji leaning against the railing took a drag off his cigarette and stated simply "Eat it."

"Shut it. I'm not one to take charity from others. Take this food away now!" Gin said despite being on the brink of starvation.

"Stop whining and eat it already! To me, anyone who's hungry is a customer."

"Sorry, but I'm not a customer."

"I can understand how a hungry person feels more than anyone. You can die for your pride if you want, but if you eat and survive, don't you think there's a future for you?"

Gin without saying a word began shoveling the delicious food into his mouth. He was crying tears of gratitude. After having eaten half the food he began to speak "Sorry... Thank you... I thought I'd die. I've never eaten food so delicious..."

"It's damn delicious isn't it?" Sanji stated grinning widely. He was proud of his craft.

Unknowingly to the pair they had a third guest who had been watching from the upper deck. He began laughing causing Sanji to look up at the man.

It was one of the pirates from before the one with the straw hat.

"I found a good cook! Hey you, it's a good thing that he gave you food!" Luffy said grinning at the pair.

"You almost died!" he stated jovially. "Hey you, cook! Join my group! Be the cook on my pirate ship!"

"Huh?!" was all Sanji and Gin could say being utterly confused at the strange man.

Sanji regaining his composure said "I refuse. There's a reason that I have to work in this restaurant."

"No! I refuse!" Luffy said.

"Wh-What you can't refuse my refusal?!"

"You're a good cook, so let's be pirates together."

"Hey, listen to what I say!"

"So what's your reason?"

"I don't need to tell you!"

"Huh? You just told me to listen to what you say!" Luffy said looking confused.

"Look I don't need to explain myself to you damn straw hat!" Sanji said getting in Luffy's face.

"What?! Don't make fun of my straw hat! I'll kick your ass!" Luffy said giving the same treatment to Sanji.

At this point Gin interrupted "Hey I'm Gin of the Krieg Pirates. You're a pirate, too, right? Do you have any goals?"

"I'm heading to the Grand Line. Because I'm going to become the King of the Pirates!" Luffy said grinning.

"There's no way someone like you can survive there. You don't even have a cook and you think you can survive the Grand Line?"

Luffy looking indignant "I have a cook he's right here." he said pointing to Sanji.

"I already said I'm not joining your crew bastard!"

"You should avoid the Grand Line. You're still young. You don't need to rush. There's a large ocean out there to explore. Leave the Grand Line for latter."

"So you know something about the Grand Line then?" Luffy asked knowing the answer.

"No I don't understand anything about it... That's exactly why I fear it..."

"LUFFY!" a feminine voice shouted from above.

"Oh there you are Luffy." said Nami looking down below at the three. "Food's ready come back inside." she said while walking back to the entrance.

"F-Foooood..." Luffy said forgetting about the two he was talking to as he jumped up to follow Nami inside.

"Tcch... what a moron." Sanji said. "Well I need to get back to work. I'll take the empty dish with me."

Handing over the plate Gin began looking over the horizon. He should be headed back out to sea now to meet back up with Don Krieg. Getting onto the small boat he had stolen from the navy ship early he set off to meet his captain.

* * *

><p>Inside Sanji could be seen heading back to the kitchen.<p>

And at the Straw Hat's table Luffy could be seen tearing into the food with gusto. His four nakama could be seen eating their portions while watching in amazement as Luffy shoveled down the small mountain of food.

Although after a while he began to realize that his stomach was starting to hurt. Like seriously hurt what had happened? Did he eat something bad? Did he swallow a fork? He was unsure as he held his distended belly groaning in discomfort.

Nami looking over at Luffy noticed his discomfort. "Luffy you ate too much! Look at you your in pain. Why did you have us order this much food if you were just going to get sick after eating half of it?"

Luffy said meekly "B-But I can usually eat way more... I've never had this problem before..."

Zoro chewing slowly began to think on this. "Luffy your not a rubber man anymore could that have anything to do with it?"

Luffy's eyes widened in horror. No... could this be an unforeseen consequence of losing his old powers?! Luffy simply rolled up in a ball still holding his aching stomach. Tears could be seen flowing heavily from their captains face as he rolled around on the ground wallowing in self pity.

Usopp and Kaya looked to each other in confusion 'Rubber-man?' they thought. Kaya voiced their concern asking Zoro "What do you mean he's not a rubber man? Do you mean like his devil fruit powers?"

Zoro having no good response to this simply said "Uhhh..."

Nami agitated at Zoro not thinking before he opened his mouth began to give them a reasonable answer. "Look Luffy used to have a different devil fruit. But it was removed from him by a strange man. And after that he got a new devil fruit power the one you guy's saw with Kuro."

"Wait I thought you couldn't get rid of a devil fruit power?" Usopp said looking at Nami quizzically.

"Look to be honest I don't know much more about it then you guys. You'll have to ask Luffy if you want to know more. But he doesn't look to be in much shape to answer anything right now..." Nami said looking at the captain still rolling around crying.

And so the rest of the crew continued eating their meal unperturbed by their captain antics. But on a nearby ship a meeting was happening...

* * *

><p>"I see... That cook saved your life, and you were able to come back here... Is that what you're saying, Gin?" A giant of a man covered with a thick fur coat, asked Gin.<p>

"Y-Yes ... B-But... I never imagined the main ship was in this condition... Don Krieg!" Gin said looking up at the man who was revealed to be his captain.

"What?" Don Krieg said simply.

"I'll take you there... to the Sea Restaurant Baratie..." Gin said his lips turning up in a smile.

A few days later we can see the Straw Hats lounging on the deck of their ship. A thick fog was covering the ocean that day. It was hard to see most of the Baratie even though they were moored right next to it.

"Hey Luffy when are we going to leave here? That cook doesn't seem to want to come with us..." Usopp said looking to his captain.

"We aren't leaving here until I convince him to come!" Luffy said with conviction. At this point he began staring off into the fog drawing some of his nakama to look in the same direction.

"W-What is it Luffy? Y-You see something out there?" Usopp said his knees beginning to quake.

At this Kaya lightly grabbed hold of his arm looking out into the fog to see what Luffy was looking at. Usopp's knees stopped shaking. He struck a confident pose and said "Don't worry Kaya! Whatever may be out there will surely run once they see me!"

Luffy was surprised to see Usopp actually acting brave. He wondered if Kaya had anything to do with that. But he didn't have time to think about it as a large pirate ship started to come into view. As it pulled closer the figurehead started to come into view. It was a giant panther head... Don Krieg had come to the Baratie...

Inside the restaurant a commotion could be heard. Apparently some of the civilians recognized the ship.

And soon the ship was bearing down Baratie and Going Merry dwarfing the smaller ships. Zeff had come out onto the deck of his ship to stand his ground at the looming ship. With Sanji watching from one of the other decks as well.

As the fog began to clear the heavy damage that the Krieg Pirate's ship had taken was apparent. The figure head was missing a tooth and part of its face. Most of the ship was covered in huge gashes and the sails were tattered and flapped in the wind. Even one of the masts were currently tilted to the side barely holding its own weight.

Zoro recognizing the shape of the gashes wondering if the damage could have possibly been done a sword...

Then a man came to the front of Krieg's ship. Considering his size and choice of attire it looked to be the captain Don Krieg.

He came aboard the ship and began his walk to the entrance. Terrifying all the customers who could only look on in fear as the man who was said to be the ruler of East Blue stalked by. As he opened the door it was revealed he was being led by Gin who was currently supporting his weight.

Then Don Krieg began to speak "S-Sorry... Can I have some water and food? We have money... tons of money..."

Everyone could only stand around and with surprise covering their faces. This was Don Krieg the terror o East Blue?

"I don't even remember the last time I ate. Please... give me some water and food..."

Patty could be heard "He shows neither dignity nor force. Is he really that Don Krieg, Commodore of the grand pirate fleet?"

At this point Sanji had started heading towards the kitchen likely to get the man some food.

But Don Krieg's strength was failing as he collapsed to the ground unable to remain on his feet.

Gin his panic clear shouted out to the crew of the Baratie "P-Please! Help our captain! He's really about to starve! He hasn't eaten anything for days! He'll die if he doesn't eat!"

But a life of being a feared pirate put serious hesitation in anyone in the area. Why would they help a man who in any other situation would likely just want to kill them and take whatever treasure they had? The only reason he was groveling now was because he was weak, unable to do anything else.

A bellowing laugh could be heard coming from Patty. "This is good! It's a riot to see the famous arch rouge Don Krieg like this..."

Gin looked to the man pleading "We have money this time. We're customers!"

"Don't be ridiculous! Hey, contact the Navy right away. He's at his weakest right now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! There's no need to feed him anything. Keep him under arrest." Patty said looking down on the two pirates.

At this point Luffy could be seen calmly watching the situation while leaning on the door frame. He had no reason to interfere yet so he simply let the scene play out.

A murmur of agreement could be heard amongst the crowd of customers. They knew he couldn't be trusted so why should he get help from them?

Don Krieg began to try and sit up. "I-I won't do anything... Once I eat, I promise I'll leave quietly." He began bowing his head close to the floor not even looking up.

"So please... help... me..."

"Don Krieg! Please stop begging! It's not something you should do!" Gin pleaded to his captain.

At this point Sanji began walking towards the duo with a giant bowl of food. On his way down he knocked Patty out to get him out of his way. And likely because he felt he was being annoying.

Setting the bowl down in front of him he told Don Krieg to eat.

Don Krieg began shoveling the food into his mouth one giant handful at a time.

After Don Krieg had swallowed the last of his food he stood up and delivered a powerful sucker punch to Sanji sending him flying into the spiral staircase at the center of the restaurant.

Gin surprise was apparent. At first he couldn't even begin to form words.

The crowd of customers quickly dispersed trying to stay away from the monster that was Don Krieg.

Gin regained his senses and shouted to Krieg "Th...This isn't what we agreed, Don Krieg! I brought you here under the condition that you wouldn't touch this restaurant! And that man saved our lives..."

Don Krieg stood tall grabbing Gin by the arm. Gin could only let out guttural pained sounds as Don crushed his arm. Tossing Gin aside he began to look at the chef's that had taunted him only minutes ago who know could only look on in anger and fear.

"This is a good restaurant. I'll take this ship." He said confidence and malice oozing from his voice.

Don Krieg then began making demands of his new ships old crew. He wanted them to bring his crew over to his new ship. And then he wanted them to make them meals enough for everyman on his ship.

Sanji slowly began to stand. He started slowly making his way to the kitchen. One of the chefs demanded to know what Sanji thought he was doing. As he wiped some of the blood of his face he said "I'm heading to the kitchen. I've got a 100 more meals to make." and he continued making his way there.

The other chefs of the restaurant made to stop him. Pointing their makeshift weapons at him to keep him from moving.

Patty smashed him over the head to keep him from heading off to the kitchens. He made his way to the staircase where he opened a secret compartment pulling out some kind of object wrapped in a white sheet.

"Are you full now, Krieg? After the main course, how about..." And at this he took off the white sheet revealing a giant cannon of a weapon that was styled after a lobster. "... a piece of iron dessert?!"

"MEAT BALL OF DOOM!" he shouted igniting the weapons firing mechanism. A huge blast came out of the cannon firing an iron ball the size of Krieg's head. The weapon caused a blinding flash of light.

The cannon ball struck Krieg directly in the chest causing an explosion that destroyed part of the entrance of the ship. A cloud of smoke hovered over the area obscuring the damage that was done.

However as the smoke settled Don Krieg was shown to still be standing and he seemed to be completely unharmed.

"It'll taste good, right? You lame cook! How dare you serve such a nasty dessert?!"

At the furious anger apparent in Krieg's eyes the crew began to quake in their shoes.

"This is the lousiest restaurant!" At this declaration Krieg's armor opened up to reveal many different guns hidden all over his body.

"You're damn annoying!" He shouted but before he could open fire he felt something tug at the back of his armor. He looked behind him wondering what the hell had dared touch his armor to see some damn kid in a straw hat holding him by the back of his chest plate.

Before he could do anything though he was suddenly picked up and whirled around. Unable to see he was moving so fast. And then suddenly he was flying but it was cut short as he slammed into something wooden crashing busting through whatever he had hit.

At first he couldn't even move the breath having been completely forced from his body. He simply laid down on what he slowly realized to be the inside of his ship. As he began to regain his strength he slowly stood up looking through the hole that he had made through his own ship.

That kid... he was going to pay with his life... Don Krieg fumed veins pulsing from his neck and forehead from the sheer rage he was feeling.

* * *

><p>Inside Baratie no one made a move. Everyone was stunned silent. What had just happened? One moment they thought they were going to die and the next Don Krieg had been thrown off the ship. And by that pirate kid that had shown up a few days ago.<p>

Gin couldn't even speak his jaw hanging open. The man he had regarded as the strongest man he knew had just been tossed around like a rag doll.

Zeff looked down at that punk he had seen before. The kid was stronger then he looked. He had actually just finished the meals Krieg had demanded when he had come outside to see the man tossed off his ship.

"Hey big hat!" Luffy yelled up to the owner Zeff.

"What you damn brat?" Zeff asked annoyed at what the kid called him.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll take care of the Don guy and you give me your sous chef!" Luffy said looking Zeff directly in the eyes.

Zeff met his gaze as he thought about his offer. Then he began to laugh "Kid you're a terrible negotiator. I'd have paid to have you take that sorry excuse for a chef off my ship. But fine you defeat Don Krieg and I'll let you take Sanji."

"YES! I finally have a cook!" Luffy shouted looking at Sanji.

"LIKE HELL!" Sanji shouted at Luffy. He looked at Zeff "Like I'm going to leave that easily you shitty geezer..."

But at this point Don Krieg had climbed through the hole in the hull of his ship and jumped back on the Baratie. He began making his way to Luffy slowly but deliberately.

When he entered the restaurant he found a bag of food next to that straw hat kid.

"Hey Krieg!" Luffy shouted. "Take this food to your crew. In two hours though me and you are going to fight! If I win you leave with your crew. But if I lose you get the ship. How does that sound?"

Don Krieg stunned at first began to laugh "You honestly think a punk like you could take me on! I had 5,000 men under my control! My bounty is 17 million berries! Who are you to challenge me!"

At this Luffy thought aloud "Well I may only have 5 other crew members..."

Sanji angered thought 'Wait he's counting me isn't he?!'

Luffy continued "... but my bounty is definitely higher. Mine's worth 20 million berries!"

Shock spread throughout the crew of the Baratie and Don and Gin seemed to have trouble comprehending that. 20 million? What had this kid done to deserve a bounty like that?

Don Krieg recovering from his shock began to laugh "You'll have to lie better then that kid. No way you've got a bounty higher than mine. But I'll take your wager. In two hours I'll be back to take my new ship."

And he turned around walking back to his ship with the bag over his shoulder. Gin giving one last look to Sanji and Luffy followed behind him.

The people remaining on Baratie started clamoring to Luffy. They wanted to know if his bounty was really that high. And how he had managed to throw Krieg off the ship.

"Yeah my bounty is really 20 Million. I got it from defeating some other strong pirates. But other than that I guess I'm just really strong!" he laughed while flexing his arm.

But Luffy told them that he had to go meet with his crew to let them know what was going on. And so he left promising to be back in time for the fight.

There was a large debate going on in his absence. Some were wondering if it was a mistake to leave the fate of their ships in the hands of some kid that they didn't even know. The others were wondering whether the kid was really strong as he claimed.

Zeff had begun rifling through some newspapers that he had gotten the past few days. He seemed to remember something in one of them referencing a straw hat.

He found what he was looking for when he saw an article dated from two days before that Luffy kid had gotten here. Skimming over it he read how it had been discovered that a pirate called Kuro had apparently faked his execution many years ago. But as it turned out the man had been hiding out as a butler to some village nobleman. For some unknown reason he had been defeated by someone called Straw Hat Luffy who no one had heard of before. So the Navy had released a bounty on the only info they had which was the name. They had set it at 20 million for killing someone as strong as Kuro, and the rest of his pirate crew.

"Hmm... so it looks like that punks telling the truth." Zeff said surprised to see bounty that high on a kid like him.

* * *

><p>Back on the Going Merry Luffy had begun to catch his crew up on what was happening.<p>

"So you're going to have a showdown with this Don Krieg guy?" Nami asked.

"Yup! And when I'm done were going to have a new chef!" Luffy said excited.

"I want you guys to stand by though. Don Krieg is a coward and will likely go back on his word when he starts losing. So be prepared to take on some of his men." Luffy said looking seriously at his crew.

"Alright captain I'm right behind you." Zoro said examining one of his swords.

Usopp looking to Kaya voiced his own agreement "Yup! I'll back you guys up!"

Kaya agreed as well although she was more concerned about potentially healing people.

Nami looked to her crew then back at the Krieg's pirate ship. For some unknown reason she smirked, but didn't voice whatever plan she might be thinking of.

"Alright guys we have a couple hours though until the duel so let's get some food!" Luffy said hopping off the ship and heading towards Baratie.

Nami shouted after him "Don't eat too much! Remember what happened last time!" and under her breath she said "damn moron..."

And without much else to do the crew decided to follow him. Maybe since they were going to fight on their behalf they'd be willing to comp their food...

* * *

><p>A few hours later and the Straw Hat Pirates were ready to take down Don Krieg and his crew. They had been served a free meal made my Zeff and Sanji.<p>

But the time had come they could hear the pirates from Krieg's ship gathering together. It seems that they had regained their strength after eating their fill.

However their war cries soon turned to terror filled screams. The sound of the ship breaking to pieces could be heard. This created massive waves that threw Baratie around knocking many people to the floor. Luffy and the Straw Hat's ran outside to see what was happening. They were followed by Sanji. Zeff began shouting to his crew to raise the anchor to keep the Baratie from sinking along with the other ship.

They watched as the sea swallowed the massive pieces that made up Krieg's ship. Soon even the massive masts dipped below the ocean.

Luckily for the straw hats Yosaku and Johnny had stayed behind to watch the ship. They had managed to keep it under control and they'd moved it farther away to keep it from smashing into one of the other ships.

Nami could only cry as she watched the destruction in front of her. Luffy surprised looked at her. "What's wrong Nami?"

"All that treasure... gone..." Nami cried over the potential vast amounts of loot currently sinking to the bottom of the ocean. She had planned on sneaking over to the ship while the others were fighting. So much loot wasted.

"Uh... Sorry Nami..." He tried to pat her back soothingly.

Didn't seem to work though as she just kept grieving for her lost treasure.

Now that the ocean had settled others began to emerge from the ship to witness the destruction for themselves. Zeff even laid eyes on a man he never thought he'd see in East Blue.

Hawk-Eye was here.

Zoro had found the man as well. The one he had set out to sea to one day face one-on-one to see who was truly the world's greatest swordsman.

Don Krieg was currently in disbelief that the monster that had destroyed his fleet had actually followed him out here. He and his men were currently stuck holding on for dear life onto the pieces of his flagship that had managed to float. While the remaining number of his crew not lucky enough to find something floating, got dragged down to hell with most of his ship.

Zoro watched Hawk-Eye Mihawk as he drew closer and closer to the Baratie. He looked over to his captain.

"Do what you need to do Zoro." He said calmly looking back.

He nodded at this and jumped over to one of the large pieces of debris that were floating near Mihawk's boat.

* * *

><p>Soon he found himself staring straight into the hawk-like eyes of the man he had come out to sea to face.<p>

"I came out to sea to meet you." Zoro said with one hand on the Wado Ichimonji. The sword that he had sworn to carry out a dream on.

"What's your goal?" Mihawk said calmly meeting his gaze.

"To become the strongest!" Zoro said tying his bandana around his head.

"Hmph... How foolish..." Mihawk said with a contemptuous twist to his smile.

"You've got spare time, right? Let's fight!" Zoro said drawing the Wado Ichimonji.

The remaining pirates could be heard clamoring in fear as they tried to keep out of the way of the two legendary swordsman.

"Th-This guy is Zoro! Roronoa Zoro of the Three Swords Style!" one could be heard saying.

Don Krieg standing on of the largest pieces of his broken ship remarked " Oh, a pirate hunter, huh?"

"Fight? Hmph! How pitiful, weak one..." Mihawk said not even bothering to look Zoro's way.

Mihawk quickly moved to the same platform as Zoro seemingly moving in an instant.

Zoro turned to face him ready to fight.

"If you are a competent enough swordsman, you should be able to see the disparity in our abilities even before we cross swords." Mihawk said arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Is it your courage or ignorance that causes you to turn your sword on me?"

"It's my ambition!" he said as he placed the Wado in his mouth and drew his remaining swords.

"And it's also because of a promise I made to a dear friend!"

Mihawk broke the string on his necklace and removed the top revealing the cross to be a small knife.

"Hey, what's the meaning of that?" Zoro asked looking a little angry.

"I'm no beast that goes all out when hunting a rabbit." Mihawk said passively. "Even if you're a swordsman who's earned a bit of a name for himself, this sea, the East Blue is the weakest among the four seas."

"Unfortunately, I don't carry any smaller sharp instrument than this one." Mihawk said looking truly remorse.

"That's enough making fun of me! Better not regret it when I kill you!" Zoro said running straight at Mihawk.

"Oni... Giri..." but before he could continue his attacked was stopped as if hitting a wall.

He stared at the small knife and tried to use all the strength he had to push the blade back but it wouldn't budge.

He pulled back and began swinging at Mihawk as fast as he could with each blade he had.

But Mihawk's defense was impenetrable. Each blow from his blade was blocked effortlessly with Mihawk's small knife.

During this assault Zoro began to notice fractures that sprouted across the two blades in his hands. With each strike to Mihawk another fracture started and each one grew a little larger.

Eventually he lost the sword in his left hand and then the one in his right. He jumped away when his second blade shattered to try and catch his breath. He dropped his broken blades and took Wado out from his mouth. He held it with both hands and closed his eyes. Letting his breathing slow he tried to think back on Luffy's training. He tried to visualize Mihawk and what moves he could make if he came at him.

That was when he felt it, Mihawk rushing at him from his right. He focused all of his will into his single blade and struck out at the knife reaching for his heart.

The sound of a blade shattering could be heard across the water's as everyone stared in shock at what had happened.

Mihawk stared at the swordsman. At the last possible second he had stuck out with the blade in his hand. And for a mere moment before the blades touched the green swordsman's blade it had turned black and smashed his knife disarming him.

He smirked. This man had potential.

He moved back dropping the now useless knife. "Kid! State your name." he asked for the first time seriously looking at the young swordsman. And Zoro opened his eyes.

"Roronoa Zoro." he said meeting his gaze with conviction.

"I'll remember it." Mihawk said as he drew his signature blade.

"I haven't seen anyone like you in a while, strong one. Thus... as a swordsman's courtesy, I'll sink you using the world's strongest black sword."

"I appreciate it." Zoro said readying his own blade.

Mihawk launched at Zoro with a speed Zoro had never seen before he moved his blade to intercept.

Mihawk blew past him. Both swordsman stood but only one had used their blade for the last time this fight. Both stood for what seemed like hours when it only lasted mere moments. Then Zoro collapsed to the ground Wado still in his hand. Blood began pouring from his wounds as he tried to keep from falling to the ground.

"I never imagined I'd ever lose... So this is the power of the world's strongest." He sat up a little and sheathed Wado Ichimonji.

He faced Mihawk and held his arms to his sides.

"What are you..." Mihawk said confused at Zoro's actions.

"Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame..." Zoro said smirking at Mihawk.

"Admirable..." Mihawk stated as he took his final swing.

Blood shot out from his last wound this fight. With his heart beating so fast he could barely hear the sound of his nakama's screams as blood pounded in his ears.

"Don't live so hastily, young man." Mihawk said as Zoro fell.

Luffy jumped towards the water intent on catching Zoro. Nami screamed out to stop him. "Luffy the ocean!" she cried out hoping to keep him from drowning himself.

But as Luffy fell he began channeling his ice powers and right before he hit the water he called out "Hie Hie no Suteppu." (Chilly Chilly Step)

The ocean as it touched Luffy's feet a web of ice began shooting out from where he landed spreading out farther and farther.

He dashed towards his falling nakama each step creating a new web of ice that spread out from each foot print. and with one last jump caught right before he hit the ground. He hit the ground hard but was able to take the brunt of the fall for Zoro. He stood up while throwing Zoro over his shoulder Wado still clutched in the swordsman's grip.

Mihawk met his gaze coolly. "Are you that young swordsman's comrade? You also impressed me for watching it to the very end!"

Luffy nodded at this but he knew he had to get Zoro to Kaya so she could patch up his wounds.

He ran back to his nakama who were still shocked over the events of the last few seconds.

Kaya recovering quickly and asked Luffy to lay him down. As he did so Kaya began rooting through her back collecting gauze and medicine for Zoro. She managed to quickly coat his wounds in the ointment she made to slow the bleeding. And with Luffy's help she bandaged his chest up to further stop the bleeding.

Mihawk shouted out to the swordsman "It's still too early for you to die. My name is Dracule Mihawk! Learn about yourself! Learn about the world! And become strong!"

"No matter how many years it takes, I will hold this seat of the strongest and wait for you."

"Surpass this sword. Try to surpass me! Roronoa Zoro!"

Zeff having watched the fight quietly said "To think that he got Hawk-Eye Mihawk to say this much..."

Turning to the one with the straw hat he said "Kid, what is your goal?"

"King of the Pirates." He said simply staring straight back at him.

"It'll be even harder than surpassing me!"

Luffy looked at him sadly. "I know."

Mihawk looked at him. There was an odd wisdom to this boy beyond his years.

Zoro then raised his remaining sword to the sky.

"L... Luffy... Did I worry you? You need no less than the world's greatest swordsman, right? I... I will not be defeated ever again!" He yelled out.

Mihawk smiled at this declaration.

"Until the day I defeat him and become a master swordsman... I'll never... be defeated! Got any problems with that... King of the Pirates?!"

Luffy laughed "Nope!"

"You're a good team. I want to see you guys again." Mihawk called out to them, and with that he headed back towards his ship.

Then Don Krieg jumped down from where he had been and stood behind Mihawk.

"Hey, Hawk-Eye! Didn't you come to take my life... the life of the East Blue's ruler, Don Krieg?"

Mihawk didn't even look in the man's direction "I was going to, but I had enough fun. So I'm going home to get some rest."

Don Krieg cracked his neck and arrogantly said "You may have had enough but I'm tired of getting beaten."

His men began lamenting at what he was saying. Why was he trying to provoke the man that had single handedly destroyed most of the Krieg Pirates?!

Don Krieg deploying his weapons began laughing as he opened fire. "Die before you leave!"

"As I expected... he never learns a lesson..." Mihawk said turning as he drew his blade.

And the next thing that could be seen was a huge explosion blasting sea water from the area where they had been. Sending a good amount of men into the sea. Those who couldn't grab on to debris or ice chunks created from Luffy's devil fruit were taken down into the ocean like most of Krieg Pirates had ended.

One of the few to come out unscathed was Don Krieg. "Damn! He escaped..." not thinking of the lives his foolish mistake had cost him. And he was right. Hawk-Eyes was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

><p>Back on the Baratie Luffy told his crew to get back to the Going Merry. He especially wanted Zoro out of harm's way. Nami, Usopp and Kaya gave no arguments to getting back to the safety of their ship and loaded up the small boat borrow from the bounty hunter duo bringing Zoro with them to the Going Merry.<p>

Don Krieg and his remaining pirates seemed to be getting ready for the fight that was about to take place.

Sanji turning to one of the chefs told him to open up the fins of the restaurant. That way they could leave the fighting outside and not damage the restaurant. Zeff nodded at this and the chef quickly complied running to do what he was told.

Soon the fins extended out to their maximum length creating a suitable battlefield for the finale between Don Krieg and Straw Hat Luffy.

Luffy stepped out onto the fin and pointed directly at Krieg. "It's time we finally fought don't you think?"

Zeff looked to Sanji. "Watch carefully how he fights. Don't take your eyes off him until the moment this fight comes to an end."  
>Sanji surprised at the old man could only nod as he looked at the strange kid.<p>

With Luffy standing in for the crew of Baratie, and Don Krieg for his own crew they stared each other down, ready for the next fight.

"Hey , brat!" Don Krieg called out.

"Hm?"

"I'll make you fully experience the true power that conquered the East Blue. I'll teach you that your devil fruit or whatever it is means nothing."

"All your griping is getting annoying... I'll kick your ass. It's as simple as that."

Don Krieg's face contorted in anger at that while Luffy just gave him a toothy grin in response.

"I'm coming over now. You just wait there!" Luffy said laughing.

"What impudence..." he muttered back.

Luffy jumped down into the water. Using the same technique as before he froze the water with each step. Calmly walking towards Don Krieg who was standing on the debris of his old flag ship. The longer he stayed in contact with the water the farther the ice spread. At this point the ice almost connected the Baratie to Don Krieg.

Don Krieg let him get closer, and when he got close enough he flicked a small bomb towards the kid.

Landing at his feet Luffy jumped high as an explosion rocked the ice platform he had made. Not wasting any time Luffy flew towards Don Krieg.

Don Krieg's pauldrons opened up to revel his mounted two barrel cannons. Opening fire on Luffy, he watched as the bullets merely impacted and sunk into his skin. Was that red stuff?

Luffy continuing his jump landed on Krieg grabbing onto the shoulder mounted cannons. Super heating his fists he laughed as he fused the cannons shut. Don Krieg took a swing at him, but was too late as Luffy kicked off of him pushing him back as he did so.

Luffy landed on one of his intact ice platforms. He watched to see what Don Krieg would pull next.

While this was happening most of his men who had been cheering were shocked to see Don actually taking hits. It looked like his pauldrons were stuck in the firing position because of the melted cannons. However regaining their composure they began cheering "Yeah Don Krieg! Show him who's boss!"

He laughed pulling off his pauldrons he formed his Great Battle Spear. Pointing the spear at Luffy. "I'll admit kid your powers are pretty strange... But you are still no match for me especially with this. My most powerful weapon!"

He launched himself at Luffy ready to drive his spear straight into the kid's heart. Pulling his arm back he suddenly thrust the spear with all his strength at the kid. He felt his spear impact setting off a giant explosion. He smirked and went to pull back his spear only to find he couldn't move it.

As the smoke cleared he could see why . The kid had stopped it with his bare hands. He held onto the sides of the spear with the tip only inches from his chest.

Don Krieg couldn't see any damage on the kid. Not only had he stopped the spear he had also taken the entire explosive power at a point blank range. How powerful was this kid?

Luffy having started fueling his magma powers to his arms crushed the spear tip melting it to slag as he did so. Don Krieg twisted the other end of the spear hitting him in the head with the butt of the spear.

And this time he saw his head get covered in some kind of shiny black coating as the spear snapped at the point of impact. Leaving a 3 ft pole In Krieg's hand. He tossed the stick away and raised his diamond covered fists.

He may have blocked the spear but his gauntlets could crush anything! He swung his fists left and right but each time he swung the kid moved out of the way dodging his blows effortlessly. Krieg jumped away raising his right arm he used his wrist mounted flamethrower. This would for sure incinerate the kid.

But just like before the kid merged unscathed. Only this time magma was pouring from this kids body. it covered most of his body. Oddly enough though it didn't melt the ice. It just cooled as soon as it touched it.

"Sorry Krieg but magma beats fire... I learned that the hard way." He said giving Krieg a thousand yard stare.

"Wh...What the hell are you?" Krieg weezed out. A look of fear began making its way onto his face.

'Time to finish this...' Luffy thought to himself.

Before Krieg could think of a new plan Luffy pushed off from the ice flow he had created. Faster than Krieg's eyes could track.

Luffy shouted out as he brought his right hand behind him "Magu Magu no... Kyuzo!" (Mag Mag Explosion) smashing his fist into Krieg's armored stomach an explosion rang out sending Krieg flying into the debris of his own ship.

Bits and pieces of golden armor could be seen scattering to the area. Krieg's wootz steel armor was broken.

* * *

><p>None of Krieg's pirates dared move. They looked towards where their captain had flown and waited. But there was no movement.<p>

The crew of the Baratie who had been too stunned to say anything suddenly broke out in celebration. Straw Hat Luffy had saved their restaurant! Cheers could be heard coming from all the chefs. Sanji smirked while lighting up another cigarette. While Zeff merely grinned at the sight before him.

Finally Gin stood up from where he had been with some of the other crew. Dumfounded he slowly began to move where Krieg had landed. After a short time digging through the debris he found his currently unconscious captain.

Most of his armor had been smashed. What little of what was left on his body had been warped and mangled beyond repair. His clothes were burned in many places and where in tatters. Across the right side of his face he sported a burn that wasn't ever likely to heal. If he was lucky he'd keep they eye. The hair on that side of the face was gone as well. Don Krieg had been defeated.

Gin hauled Krieg up on his back and began to drag him to the rest of the crew. They were unsure what to do. They never thought Don Krieg could have lost to some nobody.

He placed his captains body in one of the only surviving boats that they had brought along with the flagship. He motioned to the remaining living men to gather on the ship. Him and Pearl where going to have to lead his Krieg Pirates until the Don was healed up again.

Gin turned towards Luffy. "I'll see you on the Grand Line." and looking to Sanji "Thank you for all your kindness. Without you we surely would have died."

Luffy laughing nodded in acceptance. He wasn't sure if he'd ever really see him again though. He hadn't last time at least.

Sanji took another drag from his cigarette and muttered. "Don't mention it."

And so the last of the Krieg Pirates set off. Hopefully to find a new start somewhere else.

Luffy turning towards Zeff gave him a big thumbs up. "So this means I get to keep Sanji right?"

Zeff laughed while Sanji fumed. But before he could respond a crack could be heard in the ice. Luffy looking down surprised was suddenly dumped into the ocean.

'Damn not again...' he thought.

Sanji still pissed off, laughed at the moron and waited for him to come up.

Zeff looking towards his soon to be ex sous chef said "Well you better go get him. Devil Fruit users are an enemy of the sea. He can't swim."

"What! You shitty geezer you should have told me sooner!" Sanji said discarding his shoes and jacket as he jumped into the water.

He kept swimming deeper and deeper looking for Luffy until he finally spotted him. He was unmoving but seemed to be conscious as he could see Luffy tracking his movements.

Finally catching up he grabbed Luffy and begun swimming as fast as he could to shore desperate to make it before Luffy ran out of air. And finally he broke the surface of the water and threw Luffy up onto some of the floating debris.

"You dumb bastard. You should watch were your standing." Sanji rasped out still catching his breath.

"Thanks!" Luffy said laughing. "I sure would have been in big trouble if you hadn't fished me out!"

"Tcch... dumb bastard." Was all Sanji could say. He pulled himself out of the water onto the debris, and he was smiling too.

* * *

><p>AN: So yeah here's the newest chapter of my story. Bit longer this time so hopefully you guys liked that. I hope you like the deviations I took from cannon even though overall it tells the same story.<p>

After I put up this chapter you'll be able to find a poll for a future nakama/pairing.

It's between Kuina and Tashigi. Now you may wonder how I expect to be able to bring Kuina into the story but I've actually got a really good story for that. (At least I think...) The way I have in mind having can have far reaching consequences that tie back to a certain mysterious man who has more to do with this story then you may think.

But I will leave it up to you guys. While Tashigi I admit isn't the one I'd prefer. Although that's partly just because I don't have a good idea yet how to write her into being a part of the crew. But I do kind of like the idea of her being there and maybe getting Zoro to let go of the pain of Kuina's passing... But again totally up to you guys.

Also the two new named moves I've got of the chilly chilly top and the mag mag explosion. Not sure how I feel about the seconds name but it sounds cooler in Japanese.

Also more on the Japanese, I am far from an expert on the language and I am merely using a translator to figure them out. So if anyone sees them and knows they're wrong please tell me and I will quickly fix them.

But anyway please make sure to vote on the poll (unless you don't care either way I guess...)

And feel free to review or pm me if you have any q's or concerns. Can't promise I will answer everyone but I'll try and remember to do so. Especially if your asking for stuff that's potentially spoilers for the latter story. I won't want to reveal anything for those kind of questions.

Also the one review in another language... I have no clue what that says sorry :/ English is my 1st and only language.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

><p>After the fight everyone cleaning up the Baratie. They had to push the debris away before any waves started smashing them into the Baratie. Most of the pieces were able to be drawn away by small boats. But some of the larger pieces needed the power of the Mackerel Head 1 to pull them to a safe distance away.<p>

Luffy was treated as a hero among the chef's. He and his crew had been treated to a feast after the Baratie had been put back in working order.

The Straw Hat's had been amazed to see the strength of their captain. He had walked out of that fight relatively unscathed... besides the point where he nearly drowned.

Nami having watched the fight in its entirety finally accepted that this man might actually be able to free her and her village from Arlong's wrath. She smiled. For the first time in a long time she was actually looking forward to the future.

It seemed that most of her life had been pursuing to escape Arlong, and she hadn't had any time to think what could happen after Arlong. She began to think about what it would be like to be free to sail with Luffy to wherever the ocean took them next.

Zoro had started to regain some of his strength. He wasn't quite at the point where he could start walking around but he could stay conscious at least. He had been told about how his captain had defeated Don Krieg by the chef's of the Baratie. It seemed like he had missed quite a battle.

Usopp and Kaya surprisingly enough were currently meditating on the ship. Having seen the awesome destruction that could be caused by just a couple of people they had realized that they really needed to become stronger if they were going to be able to stand a chance against anyone they might face on the grand line.

They were currently doing the exercise that Luffy had taught them about learning to use Observation Haki. With their eyes shut they tried to empty their minds of all stray thoughts. Focusing entirely on their surroundings. When one of the crew walked by, they tried to determine who it was just by the sound of the footfalls and the feel of their presence. When a seagull flew overhead they would try and focus on how high above them it was and try and determine the direction it was headed.

It was an admittedly slow process. However both could feel that they were getting better at it. At times it seemed like they were able to see where a gull would land before it had even started to descend. And sometimes with the crew they were able to pick out who was coming before they could even hear their footsteps.

Luffy could be currently found bugging Sanji on one of his smoke breaks.

"By the way, will you..." Luffy started to say grinning.

"I'm not going! I won't become a pirate." Sanji said smoking his cigarette.

"I'll continue to work as a cook here until I get that damn geezer to acknowledge my skills."

"B-But I won the wager..." Luffy said looking downcast.

"YOU DIDN"T MAKE THAT WAGER WITH ME MORON!" Sanji yelled.

"Like I'd leave just because the old man wants me gone."

"Okay, Okay then I give up." Luffy said.

"I can't leave here... since they're all undependable... But I'm hoping to go some day... to the Grand Line."

"Then let's go now!" Luffy said sitting up on the railing that Sanji was currently leaning against.

"It's not the right time yet."

"Say..." Sanji sad looking excitedly to Luffy "do you know the All Blue?"

"No..." Luffy lied.

"Oh, you don't?! It's a miracle sea! The East Blue, West Blue, North Blue, and South Blue... Fish from all those four seas live in that sea!"

Up above on another deck Zeff could be seen looking down on the two. Listening in on Sanji's dream.

"To us cooks, it's a dream-like paradise! That's what the Grand Line is like. So, have you heard..."

Zeff began to notice how animatedly Sanji was talking. He hadn't seen the kid that happy in a long time... "That idiot..." he muttered smiling.

A short while later a bell rung out with a call of "Meal Time!" accompanying it.

Luffy and Sanji walked into the restaurant where the rest of the chef's could be seen eating.

"Hey, where do we sit?" Sanji asked.

"Where's our food?" Luffy followed.

"There's no chairs for you." One of the chef said.

"Sit on the floor and eat." another said.

"No chairs? That can't be true! This is a restaurant!" Sanji said indignantly.

After grabbing some trays and loading up some food they found a place to sit on the ground.

"Guess we can't help it..." Sanji said.

"They're acting kinda weird..." Luffy remarked.

"Hmph! Nothing new..."

Patty after taking a sip of the soup slammed his spoon down on the table.

"Hey Who prepared the soup this morning?!" He yelled looking around for the one responsible.

Sanji looking happy yelled out "Hey, I did it! I did! Isn't it good? I made it especially good today!"

"I can't eat damn nasty soup like this! What is this, pig feed?!" Patty said wiping his mouth of as if to get the taste out of his mouth.

Sanji looked pissed off. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at Patty.

Luffy calmly watched as he kept on eating.

"Hey, is human food not to your liking, you damn raccoon dog?"

"Ha! When it's this bad, it's art now." Patty said standing his ground. "It makes me sick to my stomach!" He then spat to remove the taste of the soup.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really confident about today's soup. There's something wrong with your taste buds!" Sanji stated walking menacingly towards Patty.

Carne tasting the soup for himself had the same reaction as Patty immediately spitting the soup out with a shout of "Ugh! This is nasty!"

Then other chefs began doing the same thing, shouting things like.

"I can't eat something like this!"

"This is damn nasty soup!"

At this point all the chef's were glaring at Sanji blaming him for the soup.

"What do you think you're doing, you bastards?!"

"You're a sham Sous Chef after all..." Patty said being backed up by the other chefs. "You're just an old-timer."

"We're sick and tired of you settling matters with violence!" another said.

Zeff sipping the soup himself said "We're seafaring cooks. Don't waste even a drop of soup.

After finishing the dish he threw the bowl on the ground. "What is this damn nasty soup? It's like sludge! If we serve something like this, our restaurant will go out of business!"

"Don't be ridiculous you damn geezer!" Sanji said grabbing Zeff by his collar. "Just how is this soup different from yours?! Tell me!"

"From my soup?" Zeff said looking angry. "Don't flatter yourself!" he yelled knocking Sanji to the ground.

"It'll be a billion years before you can give me a lecture on cooking, little brat! I'm a man who has cooked on seas around the world."

Sanji getting up began staring the geezer down. Still holding his face from where he was punched he yelled "Dammit!" As he ran out the restaurant.

Luffy calmly finished his soup as he started to grab seconds.

"This soup is super good, you know..."

"We know that. Sanji's cooking skills are recognized by everyone here."

Words of agreement could be heard coming from every chef as they all said how good is cooking was.

"But that idiot won't listen unless we go this far..."

Unknown to those inside Sanji was currently outside the door listening in.

"Say, kid..." Zeff said looking at Luffy. "I know you said you wanted Sanji as your chef before so could you make sure to take that little brat with you and take him to the Grand Line?"

"The Grand Line... is his dream."

Patty spoke up "Man, Owner , you really made us put on quite a show."

Carne laughing said "I was worried that he might figure it out because of your bad acting." point at Patty.

Both started laughing at this. Patty looking down on carne retorted "Your acting was horrible, too."

Sanji having been leaning against the door, slid down to a sitting position. Putting his head in his hands he muttered "I can hear everything you damn idiots..."

"So what do you say kid?"

"No." Luffy said seriously.

"But... you won the wager? And you need a cook on your ship right? Or are you saying that he's not good enough for you?" Zeff said looking angry.

"He's good enough, all right. I do want him to come with me. But he says that he wants to continue working here as a cook. Even if you guys ask me to take him with me, I can't."

"So you're saying that you can't agree to it until he tells you so himself, huh?" Zeff said contemplating while rubbing his moustache.

"Exactly. More, please!" Luffy said holding out his bowl.

"Well... fair enough." Zeff said. "But who knows if that twisted damn brat can just say he'll go..."

"There's no way he can, since he's an idiot through and through..."

Luffy finishing his meal. Got up and headed out of the restaurant. Noticing Sanji now leaning against the railing smoking a cigarette. He gave him a quick glance then continued walking towards his ship.

"Hey where are you going?" Sanji called out.

"I promised my navigator that we'd bring her back to her home village after this. There are some things to take care of there."

"Hmm... alright. You know we both have foolish dreams. In order to achieve my goal, the All Blue... I'll come along... on your journey to become "King of the Pirates"!"

"I'll be the cook for your ship. Is that okay or not?" Sanji said looking right at him.

"All right! It's okay!" Luffy shouted excited that Sanji finally joined.

Sanji turning to the chefs said "So that's how it is everyone. Sorry for causing you all sorts of trouble." He said smirking.

"Ha! I don't like it! I wanted to kick you out from here myself." Patty said with a disgusted look on his face.

"Sorry for making you resort to bad acting." Sanji said with expression on his face.

"You knew?!" Patty yelled sweating bullets.

"I could hear everything, since you're all stupid. That is to say, you're willing to go that far to kick me out, huh, you damn geezer?!"

"Why do you always have to talk like that?! You bastard!" Patty yelled at Sanji.

"Hmph! That's right, little brat! I don't like kids to begin with. Not a single day passed where I didn't regret letting a useless one live, you damn brat."

Laughing Sanji said "Fine by me, you damn geezer! Enjoy the rest of your life to the utmost."

* * *

><p>While the Straw Hat's prepared the ship for sailing Luffy collected food that the crew of the Baratie was willing to part with.<p>

As he was doing this Zeff had retrieved an old log book that he had stashed away from his time sailing the Grand Line. Finding the kid in the kitchen raiding his stores, he showed the kid the book.

"Do you want to take this? It's a yearlong log of my journey on the Grand Line. It could really help you prepare what you have to face out there."

Smiling Luffy said "Don't need it."

Zeff laughing replied "I knew it..."

Sanji finished packing his belongings and began taking his last look around the restaurant. Reminiscing about the times he had here growing up. Finally he met up with Luffy at the entrance to the Baratie. The rest of the Straw Hats could be seen waiting up on deck for their last two members. Outside the Baratie a line of chefs was waiting to say goodbye to their Sous Chef and the Straw Hats.

As Sanji walked outside he could hear Patty an Carne leaping at him for a surprise attack. Dodging their blows he gave them each a swift kick in the head and continued walking towards the ship.

Luffy and Sanji loaded up their things. Luffy asked "Don't you want say goodbye?"

"That's okay." he said.

But as he stepped onto the ship he heard Zeff shout.

"Sanji! Don't catch cold." the old man said watching his Sous Chef step off the restaurant.

Sanji began tearing up at the old man's goodbye.

He began to think back on how he and Zeff first met. How Zeff had given his leg to save Sanji. How he had given up his dream in order to keep a kid he didn't know alive. Crying openly at this point he made a resolution to repay that geezer's kindness. He would find All Blue for the sake of both their dreams.

"Owner Zeff!" he bowed down to the man that had been his savior and his teacher.

"Thank you for all the damn things you've done for me over all these years! I'll never forget your kindness... for the rest of my life!"

Zeff began crying as well. He was followed by all of his crew breaking out in tires with cries of how they'd miss Sanji.

"You idiots!" Zeff shouted wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Men should part without a word."

Luffy interrupting a very touching moment shouted "Let's go! Set sail!"

Sanji now on board the ship that was his new home shouted to the Baratie "I'll see you again, you damn bastards!" waving goodbye to his family.

Zeff simply watched as Sanji sailed into the distance. He knew that one day Sanji would accomplish their dream and find All Blue.

And so with the Straw Hat's destination in mind they sailed for their next destination.

Cocoyasi village was about to be freed from the tyranny of Arlong and the Fishman Pirates.

* * *

><p>Unknown to the crew of either the Baratie or the Straw Hat's a small ship in the far distance began moving in the same direction as the Straw Hats. On close inspection it was a two man ship and even rarer in this part of the ocean was that it was steam powered. Attached on the front of the ship was a powerful telescope capable of seeing a much greater distance then any hand held version could hope to see. Currently watching the Straw Hat's was a marine who was taking constant notes as he observed them. His partner was currently asleep waiting for his observation shift to start in a few hours.<p>

He was surprised to be assigned to this part of the ocean. Typically his assignments involved spying on Warlord's to make sure that they weren't breaking any of the rules that applied to their position. Although he had been sent to this sea on one occasion many years ago.

That was when strangely one of the four emperor's had shown up to visit Windmill Village. It was still unknown to him why they had gone there or why they had stayed. They had stayed for roughly a year before he and his crew had moved on again. Seemingly they were there just to relax. A pirate vacation was what they had decided in the end.

However during that year some odd things had occurred. For instance there was the time that Red Haired Shanks had saved a small boy from a Sea King. In the process the man had lost an arm.

And now that he thought about it Shanks had given the boy his hat... His straw hat. Could it possibly be the same hat? Was there a connection between the two?

He had made a note of this in his log but was unwilling to speculate further considering he had no proof of the connection beyond the straw hat. But it was a dangerous connection if it was true. An up in coming pirate in East Blue who was friends with one of the Four Emperors? Dangerous indeed.

He was almost never was assigned to jobs like these watching small time pirates. But someone in the upper chain of commands had fast tracked this operation. Once he was brought on board he had been shown the only evidence they had of their actions so far.

One was the message left on what was revealed to be Captain Kuro's ship. Reports from the villagers had three people who's descriptions matched three of the Straw Hats. Two people had also gone missing from the village. One being an orphan in the village and the other being an heiress of the only mansion on the island. The butler of the mansion refused to answer any questions directed about the pirates.

However those two matched members of the Straw Hats. Usopp and Kaya if his deduction was correct had become a part of the crew sometime around Kuro's death.

Another rumor about the straw hat was that he had been the one to unseat Captain Morgan. It was revealed that he had made himself ruler of the island he was stationed on and even went so far as to collect money from the villagers as a form of tax. But the only one who gave this testimony was Morgan himself. Oddly enough the villagers and the marines could not recall any details on the pirates. It was likely they were simply protecting their 'savior'. Considering they had Morgan telling them all they wanted to hear it was decided it wasn't worth pursuing questioning the villagers.

Having witnessed the battle with Don Krieg he had made a note that it was unlikely that Luffy had killed Kuro. Considering the powers he possessed it was likely that if a battle had taken part between the two massive damage would have occurred to some of the terrain of the island. He would have expected portions of the land to have been introduced to magma where you would likely see melted down rocks as well as cooled lava. But none of this was present although it could be speculated that the man had simply only used his powers of ice which had been used on the ship to trap the pirate crew. It would have likely left little evidence.

Ultimately though Kuro had died of a gunshot wound. Usopp carried a slingshot so that ruled him out. Roronoa Zoro and Luffy were also ruled out for obvious reasons. And their navigator who he had yet to identify carried a staff and was thus also ruled out. Kaya the last remaining Straw Hat seemed to carry no weapons at all. He had also witnessed her patching up wounds on the swordsman so it was likely she was only a support role... however with none of the straw hat likely to be responsible he had a theory that he felt would prove to be correct.

They had discovered that Kuro had been hiding out on the island as a butler. He was in the service of none other than Kaya. He was unsure why but Kuro's crew had arrived on the island. Likely to steal the girl's inheritance. Perhaps though the plan was foiled by the Straw Hats. And when the plot was revealed Kaya shot her butler killing him for betraying her.

He felt like while the details may vary from the truth, Kaya was still the most likely suspect for the killing of Kuro. But that in itself didn't mean that Kaya was likely to get a bounty. It was all conjecture and even so Luffy was by far the strongest on his ship. Followed close by the swordsman although he had yet to see the strength's of the other straw hats in battle.

He had sent all of these previous notes off back to command. He had recommended a bounty increase on Luffy and for a bounty on Roronoa Zoro. Seeing firsthand the destruction the kid could cause was enough to warrant such an increase. And Zoro even though he had been no match for Mihawk, he had actually earned the respect of the world's greatest swordsman. That enough was proof of the potential of his strength.

But bounties were not his to change. It would be up to command from here on up to decide what to do. And with no further orders he kept his close watch on the Straw Hats wondering where he would be heading next...

* * *

><p>Back on the Going Merry...<p>

Luffy showed Sanji around the ship. Taking him first to the men's quarters so he could drop off his belongings and then they met in the lounge where they stocked the fridge with all the food the Baratie had gifted them.

"What the hell..." Sanji said. After making it through half the large bag he realized that they had only given them meat.

"Why did they only give us meat Luffy?"

"Oh well I asked them to. It's not like we need anything else right?" Luffy said smiling drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"I can't just cook meat! People need balanced meals. You can't get everything you need from just meat!" Sanji said looking annoyed at Luffy.

"Hmm... are you sure about that? Cause I'm pretty sure I could survive on meat only..." Luffy said looking confused at Sanji.

"You moron..." Sanji said looking defeated. Although as he looked around at the food that the Going Merry was stocked with he saw that they did have some food supplies he could supplement what was going to be a mainly meat diet until they got to the next island.

"Next time I'm in charge of getting food got that? I'm the chef. It's my kitchen. My food. Understood?" Sanji said staring Luffy down intently.

"Fine... fine... I don't know what the big deal is though... more meat is always a good thing..." Luffy said crossing his arms and pouting.

"Meat is a good thing. When paired with an appropriate amount of other food to make sure everyone is healthy on this ship. Sanji said finished stocking the last of the meat.

"Well if you say so..." Luffy said looking forlorn. Suddenly a smile overtook his face

"I know let's introduce you to the crew now!"

Sanji agreeing followed Luffy out of the cabin. Thinking to himself that he would definitely like to get to know the two female crew members a lot better...

If Luffy had looked to see his face at that moment he would see a borderline creepy smile appearing with a heavy blush spreading across his face.

* * *

><p>Outside the cabin the crew could be seen doing various things. Zoro was currently instructing the bounty hunter duo on swordsmanship. Unfortunately this wasn't something he could participate in himself because his wounds were still apparently 'too great' for him to do any training. Which he thought was a load of bull since he felt fine. But when he had went to pick up his sword earlier, a terrifying presence had washed over him.<p>

Kaya in a surprising show of aggression shouted at him that he was only going to aggravate his wounds. Kaya finished it with saying "Now you will go to sleep, or I will put you to sleep!"

Zoro wisely kept his hands off his sword and quickly laid back down.

Kaya realizing how out of character that was for her blushed and apologized to Zoro for her aggressiveness.

Zoro could only nod dumbly at this. He would have to watch out for pissing her off in the future...

Usopp, Nami and the bounty hunter duo had all been awe struck at the outburst staring at Kaya.

Kaya still blushing simply sat down again by Usopp and raised a book she had been reading so it covered her face, too embarrassed to say anything more.

But now she could be seen mixing together some new mixture that she had gotten from one of her medical books.

Usopp was still tinkering with his sling shot, and some new ammo that he had an idea for.

Nami could be found watching the horizon for any possible changes in weather. Occasionally checking a chart to make sure they were still on track.

But all of them turned to look at their captain as he lead their new crew member out onto the deck.

"Guys! I'd like you to meet our new chef Sanji!" he turned to introduce him but saw he was missing. Looking back he saw he was currently on his knee holding Nami's hand. He felt something weird when he watched the two. It felt bad but he didn't really know what was wrong with him. So he simply chalked it up to being a mystery feeling and stopped trying to think about it.

"Ah I must be the luckiest man in the world! For to sail the ocean with a woman as beautiful as you I would think I was in heaven! But alas I know I am still alive as my heart beats heavily in my chest. And it beats only for you!" Sanji said laying it on extra thick with hearts in his eyes. He leaned down to plant a kiss on her hand, when suddenly it was taken away.

Looking up he saw something he wasn't expecting. Annoyance and a tinge of anger could be seen on Nami's face. Her hand raised having been taken from Sanji's grasp formed a fist. Bringing it down swiftly on Sanji's head.

As Sanji cradled his injured head, she looked back to the horizon seeing a far off storm. But if the winds held they would not be crossing paths with it.

Sanji seeing he had failed to woo the first Straw Hat girl, turned to the other one. Surely he would not fail twice! But as he looked in her direction he saw the glare being directed at him from the long nosed guy sitting next to her. As if to say not to try anything. So he stood back up dusting himself off. Giving a short bow in Kaya's direction he headed back to Luffy.

"Well... uh I guess you already met Nami then..." Luffy said scratching his head. "So moving on we have Zoro our first mate over there." Luffy said pointing to the napping swordsman.

"But he's not awake it looks like... And then there is Kaya and Usopp over there. Usopp is our sniper and Kaya is our doctor in training." Luffy said pointing out the other two of the Straw Hat crew.

Kaya gave a small wave and Usopp merely gave him a nod, though at least the glare was gone from his face.

And then Luffy pointed out the two practicing swordsman. "Those two are Yosaku and Johnny. They're friends of ours but they aren't part of the crew."

Yosaku and Johnny smiled in his direction both giving him a thumbs up.

Sanji gave them a quick nod.

"So yup! Welcome to the crew!" Luffy yelled looking happy.

Sanji looked towards Luffy "So where are we headed again?" he asked.

At this the crew perked up. Most were unaware of their current destination and even Zoro opened his eyes and listened in.

"We are headed to Cocoyasi village!" Luffy said. Nami looked his way at this and wondered if he'd reveal why they were going there.

"Yeah but why are we going there?" Usopp asked looking to Luffy.

"Shishishi it's a secret!" Luffy said laughing.

That was good enough for Zoro who simply shut his eyes and went back to sleep.

Usopp sweat dropped at this but nodded and went back to his work. Kaya went back to his reading as she wondered what kind of adventure they might be going on next.

Yosaku and Johnny couldn't help but think that they had heard the name Cocoyasi before. But without anymore to go on they let it go, and went back to training.

Nami sent a smile in Luffy's direction. She knew it was all going to come out at some point but now at least it could be on her terms. Sending a silent thank you Luffy's way she walked to the cabin. She had some small corrections to make to their course.

Luffy headed in after her. Sanji decided to stay outside and he pulled out a cigarette. He didn't really want to risk making Nami mad again so he simply enjoyed a quick cigarette break out on the deck.

Nami using the rudder control to make the corrections watched as Luffy followed her into the lounge.

"So how do you want to approach Cocoyasi? Do you want to go to your village first... or do you want to go straight to Arlong?"

Nami thought about this. She considered landing in her village but figured that might draw too much suspicion. Especially if Arlong had men there that might report back as soon as they saw her. However there was Gosa...

"I think we should land at a village near mine. Gosa was attacked for some reason a few weeks ago by Arlong. Now I hear it's abandoned. There shouldn't be any fishmen there and we can sneak into my village from there." Nami said looking at Luffy. "I only heard about the destruction after the last time I left Cocoyasi."

"Alright Nami sounds like a plan!" Luffy smiled.

Luffy's smile could be oddly infectious at times and she found herself smiling back at him.

But Luffy's smile soon turned to a look of seriousness. "So how are you holding up with all of this?"

Nami looked away at this, thinking on his question. "Better than I would have thought, to be honest."

"There was more than one occasion where I considered running off with the money. To keep you guys from having to face Arlong..."

"Yeah I kind of figured... to be honest I was a little worried you would."

Nami was surprised. "You knew... Wait let me guess... I did that the first time with you."

Luffy laughing nodded his head.

"Why would you come after me then? I mean I betrayed you... why would you come for someone like that?" Nami asked looking sadly at Luffy.

"Well because were nakama of course!" Luffy said looking into her eyes smiling. "I'd never leave you behind Nami."

Nami gave a start at that. It sounded like... No his captain didn't care for her that much... they were just nakama right?

And once again Nami found herself smiling back at her captain. "I can never thank you enough for what you're doing, and I'm glad... glad that I met someone like you." finishing her statement with a small blush.

"Well anyway we've still got a bit of a journey ahead of us. I'd say from the weather it'll take us at least two days journey. And that's if the wind remains favorable."

"Cool!" Luffy said. It had been annoying trying to get to Cocoyasi last time because he didn't have a navigator.

"Nami I'm glad you stuck around this time!" Luffy said.

Nami nodded at him "Yeah so am I."

"How about you show more some more of your haki training Luffy? I think I'm starting to pick up on the armament haki."

Luffy nodded at this as they walked back outside the cabin. Thinking back thought about all the times Nami had hit him in the past. They had always seemed to hit harder than most people so maybe it made sense that she seemed to pick it up fast.

As they went outside Luffy announced that he was going to be training in haki if anyone wanted to join in.

Sanji and the bounty hunter duo had never heard of haki before so they gathered around Luffy and Nami. Zoro taking a peek at Kaya decided that he might want to hang back on this one. He could always meditate to try and improve his observational haki anyway. That didn't require movement.

Luffy gave a demonstration of armament haki showing how it toughened any part of your body that you focused on.

He began to explain the basics as well. How haki was influenced by your will. When you use haki to enhance your fist's you are supplementing your attack and defense with your willpower.

"If you have a stronger will then your enemy then they cannot hurt you when you master armament haki. For you will also be stronger then your enemy."

He had the bounty hunters practice trying to focus their will into their blades as they swung at him. He blocked the attacks with pure haki.

After a while it seemed like the two hadn't made much progress. Nami and Sanji although they seemed more focused in their endeavors to learn hadn't had any luck in successfully replicating it yet.

Kaya and Usopp were in a similar boat. After a while of training however they went back to what they were doing before.

Zoro however having been training his observational haki had made some slight improvements. He found that if he truly focused he could track movements like Johnny and Yosaku's swords trying to break Luffy's armor.

However it was hard to focus so intensely for a long time. He began to nap as he thought on his progress.

* * *

><p>And so the rest of the day went by slowly. Luffy found himself meditating on the figurehead of the Going Merry. He was trying to think through what changes he needed to make in the future. He was thinking about their next destination after Cocoyasi. He was going to be facing down with Smoker soon. He thought back on his first fight with him. How he had been totally unprepared to face someone like him.<p>

Then he thought of how he had been saved by the man that he had later learned to be his father. He wondered what he was doing now...

Nami had been lounging on the deck reading a novel. She found however sometimes she would catch herself staring at Luffy's back wondering what he was thinking about.

Sanji had started to utilize the kitchen and was preparing snacks for everyone.

Zoro kept napping. Although he was annoyed that he was being kept from training... he wouldn't push the issue.

Kaya was actually relaxing with Nami. She hadn't brought any books besides her medical texts and was glad when Nami let her borrow a couple.

Usopp kept tinkering away with his stuff. Having seen some of Don Krieg's weaponry he had begun to develop some new ammo based on his observations. He had made one that had a high explosive load just like the pellets he had tried to use on Luffy before.

Yosaku and Johnny took a page out of their big bro's book and had found their own spot's on deck to nap.

Sanji came out of the kitchen wielding trays of snacks. He delivered a tray first to the two female crew members. However he noticed the not so secret looks between their navigator and their oblivious captain. He wondered if there was anything between them... That would be just his luck though, surrounded by two beautiful women and both their hearts were already taken. Ah the plight of the hopeless romantic.

He handed the other trays out to the bounty hunters, his captain and Usopp.

Settling down on one of the railing he lit a cigarette taking a drag off of it. He wondered if the next island had any beautiful women on it and whether they'd consider being pirates...

* * *

><p>Two days later off the coast of Conomi Island.<p>

Luffy gathered his and told them what the plan was. "Guy's this island that were at is currently being held hostage by a pirate known as Arlong."

At this Johnny and Yosaku suddenly remembered where they had heard the name Cocoyasi before. "Uh Big Bro maybe we should avoid this island..." Yosaku began. "Yeah Big Bro Luffy, Arlong is a serious pirate like... way stronger then Don Krieg. The dude is in control of like 20 islands last I heard."

Luffy nodded at this but he ignored their advice. "Nope we are definitely going there. However we will be sneaking onto the island through an abandoned village."

"Oh ok Big Bro I get you. So where only here for supplies right?" Johnny said.

"Nope. After we get to the village we will be heading to one of the remaining villages on the island. From there we will plan our attack on Arlong's main fortress that is on this island."

"W-What A-Attack ARLONG!" Yosaku and Johnny said together. "That's suicide!"

"Shishishi Maybe but I doubt it." Luffy said giving the two a thumbs up.

'Big Bro's gone crazy...' the two thought in unison while simultaneously face-faulting.

Zoro looked at Kaya expectantly. Kaya noticing this sighed "Alright you can fight but take it easy! If you feel your wounds start to open you'd better get someone to finish your fight for you."

Zoro grinned at this 'Finally I can fight again.' then he started to wonder why he had suddenly started listening to this girl's orders. Thinking back to his first incident with her he remembered why...

Sanji merely shrugged his shoulders. He was fine with whatever his nakama wanted to do.

Usopp's knees started to quake but Kaya's grabbed his hand reassuringly and Usopp steeled himself. "Al-Alright Luffy were ready when you are!" He said surprisingly only giving off a small stutter.

Kaya nodded in agreement.

Nami stayed silent but her opinion on the matter was well known to Luffy.

"Alright guys once we get closer to land keep an eye out for any fishman pirates. We don't want to give away our presence too soon." there was a murmur of agreement among the crew at that.

Finally the ship pulled along one of the abandoned docks. Zoro and Sanji began trying up the ship and the crew disembarked. Looking around the crew was surprised at the level of destruction that could be seen. A trench had been dug through one of the other streets and houses had been completely flipped along the trail.

"What could make a trail like that?" Kaya asked holding onto Usopp's arm.

"No worries Kaya! Whatever it is I'll protect you!" Usopp said trying to sound valiant.

Along the way they encountered no resistance. It seemed that Arlong had lost any interest in this place once he had raised it.

Nami was in the back of the group. She had seen the atrocities Arlong was capable of but this level of destruction... She wondered how many people had been killed.

Luffy gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze knowing that she was having a hard time with this. Nami gave him a small smile and they continued on until they found the main road that would take them either to Arlong Park or Cocoyasi village. They choose the latter and began heading into the village.

After a short while they started encountering buildings on the outskirts of town. Most were abandoned but a few still had people left who had refused to run from their homes.

A few watched from their windows or porches wondering what a strange group of people like this could possibly be doing. However many recognized the orange haired girl. With barely concealed hatred many watched the Straw Hat crew as they made their way to town. Other's went back inside their houses slamming the doors not wanting to look at the girl that had betrayed them.

Most of the Straw Hats were confused at this. What could they possibly have done to earn that treatment? Luffy merely kept hold of Nami wanting to support her in what was going to be the last of her terrible treatment from her association from Arlong.

When they got to the village only one man had stayed on the street after they saw who was walking into town. And that was man was Genzo. He could be currently seen sitting on one of the houses patio tables looking like he was waiting for something.

Genzo grew wide eyed when he saw Nami. "Nami?! What are you doing here and who are these people your with?"

Nami looked at Genzo "Hi Genzo, these guy's... they're my nakama." Looking to Luffy she said "And he's my captain."

Luffy grinned at this giving Genzo a thumbs up.

"Nami... but what about Arlong? If he hears your here with a group of pirates... What about your deal?" Genzo asked.

The other crew members were surprised to hear this. 'How does Nami know this guy, and what deal with Arlong?'

Usopp was the first to ask "Nami... What's going on?" he said looking confused. Most of the crew had the same question in mind.

"Look guys I know I have a lot to explain and I will but just trust me for now okay?" Nami said looking seriously at her nakama.

The crew seemed a little uneasy but looking to their captain they saw his confident look and smile as he gave them a reassuring nod.

So they agreed knowing that their captain seemed to be ok with it.

"Genzo... we're here to take down Arlong." Nami said.

"What but that guy's a monster. Surely you don't think you can take him head on?" Genzo said looking worried towards the girl he saw as his own daughter.

"Not me. But Luffy... Arlong's no match for him. I believe in my nakama." She said giving a confident smile.

"Well, well Nami. I always knew you were a betrayer, but I never thought you'd be foolish enough to betray Arlong."

Nami turned in surprise to see Kuroobi. "Wh-What are you doing here?!" she shouted.

"Well your foolish friend here was found guilty of trying to foster a rebellion against Arlong's Empire." He said smirking in Genzo's direction. "Arlong sent me here to execute him."

"Although it looks like I'll have to make that quick. Seeing as it looks like we will be executing a lot of people today." He said as he made to move to Genzo.

However he was surprised to see Nami standing in his way holding her staff. "Tcch out of my way foolish girl. Arlong will deal with you later." he said as he swung his hand to knock her out of the way.

Sanji however wasn't going to let him hit a girl. Swinging his leg out as hard as he could his foot connected with the fishman's hand. He had unconsciously been focused on making his foot hit as hard as possible and was surprised to see the same sheen of shiny black coating of that haki stuff Luffy had been trying to show them.

When it hit Kuroobi's hand it created a sickening crunch. Kuroobi growling in pain whipped his hand back. He cradled it with his other and was surprised to see it was broken.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit girl's?" Sanji said glaring at the fishman.

"You humans are just filthy animal's compared to us! She should thank me if I feel like hitting her." Kuroobi said snarling at Sanji.

The two began trading blows Sanji used his legs to do his fighting while Kuroobi was able to only use one of his hands to fight with. He could however still use his other arm to block.

Sanji began seriously feeling the blows coming from the fishman. Even though he was down to one hand this guy had some serious strength. And unfortunately he hadn't been able to pull of the haki move again.

The two were fighting in the middle of the abandoned street. Trading blows like mad men.

People were gathered at their windows to see the man who had dared fight one of the Arlong Pirates top leaders.

Kuroobi swung the wing he had on his forearm intending on catching Sanji in the throat. Sanji ducked placing his hand on the grounds he spun himself around and under the fishman's attack. He then swung back and smashed both of his feet into the fishman one after the other knocking him forward.

Sanji vaulted himself into the air and brought his leg down intending to connect with Kuroobi's head.

However Kuroobi wasn't as stunned by the attack as he had thought. Turning the fishman grabbed his leg and swung him into one of the buildings watching as he smashed through the supports.

The building collapsed under its weight crashing down onto the downed Straw Hat.

Kuroobi laughed and turned his attention to the other pirates again. "He was stronger than I expected but he was still no match for my fishman karate! And it looks like he was too weak to protect you Nami."

"Hey you damn fish!" turning in surprise he was met with a heavy kick to the throat sending him crashing into the ground. Sanji then kicked him back into the air connecting several hits to the fishman's spine as he was sent into the air.

Then he sent him smashing back into the ground with a kick to his stomach knocking all the air out of his lungs. Sanji then kicked him to the side where the fishman tried to stand while catching his breath.

But Sanji was too fast for him as he sent one final kick to the fishman's face connecting with enough force to send Kuroobi flying into the debris of the destroyed abandoned house.

Sanji after having expended a lot of his injuries fell to one knee painting. He had endured more than a few injuries in that fight and it was starting to catch up to him.

Usopp and Kaya helped him to stand. Nami said that she knew somewhere that they could safely patch Sanji's wounds.

Genzo directed some of the villagers who had come outside after the fight to take care of Kuroobi. They collected some chains and made sure to tie him up securely placing him in one of the basements of the abandoned houses.

* * *

><p>After the fight Nami took them to Nojiko's house. Nojiko was surprised to see Nami and Genzo when she opened her door and especially surprised to see them leading a group of people she had never seen before.<p>

"What brings you here Nami?" She asked while gesturing them inside. Noticing the injured blonde she pointed out a couch he could be placed on. Kaya began to work on his wounds that he had gained from the fight while the other's settled around the house.

Nami said that she wanted to talk to her sister alone. The rest of the Straw Hats and Genzo complied and stayed in the house as Nojiko and Nami went outside.

"So Nami I have to say I'm surprised to see you here with all these people. And what happened to the blonde one?" She asked looking at Nami.

"Well it's a long story I guess. Essentially I met these guys while I was sailing and the one with the straw hat convinced me to join. His name is Luffy and he's our captain. And uh we ran into trouble in town. Arlong wanted Genzo executed for having a stash of weapons. He sent Kuroobi and Sanji the blonde guy fought him."

"Hmm... I'm going to guess he won then?" Nojiko asked surprised to hear he actually beat a fishman.

"Yeah we had some of the villagers tie him up in chains. He's stashed in one of the abandoned houses right now although hopefully he doesn't wake up for a while."

"So what are you doing here? Declaring war on Arlong?" Nojiko said concerned. "I thought you were close to your goal? You only had the last bit of money to collect."

"Nojiko... Arlong's never going to let me go..." Nami said sadly. "Those map's they're too valuable for him. He'd likely rather have me dead then not working for him."

"I'm not even sure if he'd hold up on his end of the bargain. He'd likely take the money and things would never change."

"And besides what about all the other villages in his control. Even if he held up his bargain there are still 19 other islands who have to deal with him... Before I wasn't strong enough to take on Arlong."

"But Luffy... He is stronger than Arlong is. And he's a great captain. He can act dumb sometimes but when it really comes down to it there is no one I'd rather have at my side." Nami said smiling thinking about her captain.

"Luffy is going to defeat Arlong and free this village. And I'm going to help him do it." Nami said with conviction.

Nojiko was stunned to see her sister act like this. When was the last time her sister had even looked remotely happy let alone smile. Nojiko smiled in return. "Luffy sounds like a great guy sis. So considering I've never heard you sing anyone's praises before should I know if there's anything more to you two?" Nojiko asked wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Wh-What... NO!" Nami stuttered blushing.

Nojiko laughed "Oh it's alright little sis I won't tell him."

Nami merely glared at her sister.

"Alright Nami I'll be serious so when are you planning on heading to Arlong Park?"

"Well hopefully soon I kind of have to explain the whole situation to everyone first..."

"Wait who else knows right now?"

"Just Luffy..." Nami said.

"Really? So Luffy lead his whole crew here just for you... and you say there is _nothing_ going on? Hmm... why do I doubt that." Nojiko smirked.

"I thought you said you were going to be serious..." Nami glared back.

"Oh I am sis. I am." Nojiko said but before Nami could answer back she headed back inside.

Nami hung back a little bit thinking to herself. There were times when she found herself wondering what it would be like if there was something more to their relationship. However she had to wonder if the version of herself that had sailed with Luffy had any feelings for him? And if she did, had he reciprocated them?

But shaking her head to clear her thoughts. Now wasn't the time for this. Now was the time to deal with Arlong and to free East Blue from his tyranny. And so she headed back into the house ready to start planning their take down of the Arlong Pirates.

* * *

><p>AN: Alright guys chapter 9 is done. I had originally planned to have the Arlong fight in this once but the chapter ended up getting pretty long. So I decided I'm going to save it for chapter 10. I've already started a little work on it but I'll continue that tomorrow.<p>

Also just to remind everyone that the poll for Kuina or Tashigi is on my profile. I forgot to put it up at first so sorry about that.

However it won't be up there long I think. Although I don't think it will be in the next couple chapters that I add one of them, I think I would like to know so I can start really laying the groundwork to adding them in.

I've been hinting at romance hear and there so you can expect that to be expanded on. However I don't think there will be any actual relationship between the two of them for a while. Between Luffy's denseness and Nami coming to terms with her feelings for her captain it might be awhile. Likely you will see more progression with Usopp x Kaya though.

When the romance starts coming into play more I will probably be moving this fic's rating up. Not that I'm going to go straight to lemon's or anything when I do change it. But I do want to touch on adult topics and humor that probably are frowned upon in a T rated fic.

Also I think this is going to be the average length of chapters from now on. The last chapter as about the same length and I feel like these have a good amount of writing to them without being too long. Somewhere between 7K-9K just seems right.

Oh yeah and I was wondering if anyone can see all of the reviews for this fic? It seems like any reviews I've got after the 6th of December haven't shown up on the story. I get emails about them so I know they seem to go through. It says I have 50 but when I go into the review section it only shows 29... Weird but obviously not all that vital but if people want to see other peoples reviews for this story I'm not sure if they can see all of them.

I thank you guys for your reviews they mean a lot to me, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I think that's about all I wanted to say. Next chapter should be fun. It's always fun to see Arlong get his ass kicked by Luffy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

><p>Nami had begun to describe her plight to the other straw hats. She had begun by describing how Arlong first came to this island as a conqueror. How he demanded tribute for every person in the village every month.<p>

She didn't tell them about her mother though who had died protecting her and her sister. That was still too deep a wound to reveal.

Then she talked about how she had struck a deal with Arlong. For a 100 million berries she could buy her village. As long as she worked for Arlong making maps for him. At this she showed the tattoo she had covered under her sleeve. This drew gasps of surprise from around the crew.

However she wasn't surprised when she saw anger on their faces. After all she had been hiding this all along. They likely could see that at one point she intended to betray them.

"When are we going to kick his ass Nami." Usopp said simply. And murmurs of agreement could be heard from the crew even the two bounty hunters.

"Yeah anyone that hurts our Big Sis has got to answer to us!"

She had begun to cry at this. They weren't angry at her, they were only angry at Arlong. They really cared about her.

This had opened the floodgates with her. She had never given herself time to grieve or to really process her association with a monster like Arlong. She kept crying for both the sadness of the past and because of the support her crew had for her.

Then she noticed the brim of Luffy's straw hat as it was placed on her head. She looked to Luffy who gave her a reassuring smile. "No one makes my navigator cry Nami." and he left the cabin presumably to go fight Arlong.

And the rest of the Straw Hat's filled out after him including Johnny and Yosaku. As Each crewmember passed they gave her a smile as if to say that they were going to do what it took to protect their nakama.

Zoro couldn't help but look at Luffy's hat. Luffy had told him the importance of that hat. It had seemed more important than his own life at the time. It seemed he had something even more important than his hat to protect now.

Sanji had tried to stand but Nojiko pushed him back down. He had already fought enough this time. Nojiko smiled at Nami.

I'll watch over him if you want to go with your nakama Nami."

Nami nodded and looked at the receding backs of her crew. Wiping the last of the tears from her eyes away, and ran after them. If they were going to fight to protect her then she could do the same.

As they headed through the village they noticed a crowd had formed. Genzo had left to go back to the village as Nami had begun talking to her crew. He was currently speaking to the crowd.

"Arlong has reigned long enough over our village!" pointing to the unconscious Kuroobi "We've seen that they can be brought down! They aren't as immortal as they try to seem!"

The crowd noticed the crew of Straw Hat's coming up the road. They cheered as they saw them knowing that they had taken down one of Arlong's men.

Nami was surprised to see that none of the villagers were looking at her in anger. "Genzo what is going on here?" she asked.

"Nami we knew all along why you joined Arlong." Genzo said looking downcast.

"Then why..."

"Because we wanted to give you the chance to escape if you ever wanted it. We didn't want you to feel like you owed us. You've helped this village more than it ever deserved. And now it's time that we fight back ourselves."

At this the crowd gave another cheer. And so the Straw Hats, two bounty hunters and one angry crowd made their way to Arlong park. All with one goal in mind. "To bring down Arlong and save their village."

On the way there two fishmen could be seen coming their way. It was none other than Hatchan and Choo. Seeing the crowd that was heading there way armed to the teeth the two began to get nervous.

They had been sent out to deal find out what had happened to Kuroobi and to see why he was taking so long. It seemed they had their answer.

Choo shouted to the crowd "What do you think you're doing?"

"Were taking back our home!" Genzo shouted back with a resounding cheer from the villagers.

"I see so is this why Kuroobi has taken so long getting back to the village. What have you animals done with him?" Choo asked looking angrily over the crowd.

"Here he is." they said tossing the unconscious pirate down.

"Tchh... you pathetic human's will pay." Choo said getting into a fighting stance.

Hatchan didn't say anything but he drew his swords as well. He didn't have the hatred of humans in him like his fellow fishmen but he was ready to defend his crew.

"Zoro. Usopp. I think you guys can take care of them while we go on ahead right? And Kaya how about you stay here and make sure Usopp and Zoro don't get too hurt."

Kaya nodded looking towards Usopp. He was nervous that much was obvious. This would be his first fight since he had become a pirate. But with Kaya there he knew he had to be strong. So drawing his slingshot he prepared the new ammo he had made. Since it had been inspired by Krieg he had decided to call it the 'Don Bomb'.

Zoro drew the Wado Ichimonji and placed it in his mouth. And then he drew the two swords that the villagers had lent him. They were nothing special but they were better than nothing.

As the two pairs faced off the rest of the group moved on continuing their journey towards Arlong park. The two Arlong Pirates watched with narrowed eyes as the group moved along. They didn't like it but they recognized that they had been strong enough to take out Kuroobi. And it was likely the two they were about to fight were no pushovers.

Passing with no resistance continued walking occasion glances towards the fight that was about to happen behind them.

Zoro and Usopp passed one look to each other that said they were ready for this fight.

Choo started by quickly shooting water bolts at his two opponents. Zoro deflected them with his blades as he ran at Hatchan. Usopp waited for the right moment to use his special bomb, while dodging Choo's attacks. Which he got when he saw Choo inhale for another bout while taking aim at Zoro.

He let loose with his new bomb hoping it would do enough damage to let his next combo go off without a hitch.

And Choo noticed too late the bomb heading in his direction. He started to back up hoping to protect his face with his arms but the bomb slid by hitting him directly in the face. It let off a resounding boom knocking Choo to the ground. If he had been a human he thought that might have killed him. As it was however he could feel the burns across his face and chest. Getting up he stared the pirate with the slingshot down.

He hopped Hatchan could handle his match because he was going to have to focus on the sniper.

The sniper withdrawing a bottle from his handbag tossed it his way. He caught it before it could hit him in the face. Had the human expected that two work? But he was then surprised when a second projectile smashed the bottle dousing himself in its contents. From the smell of it he realized it was liquor... why the hell had he doused him with liquor?

But he didn't give the kid time to do anything else as he sent a volley of water shots at Usopp. Usopp began running into the woods hopping to create some obstacles between him and Choo.

Choo cursing followed the long nose human running into the woods.

Kaya unsure who to try and stick with, stayed with Zoro in case his wounds reopened. Although she hopped he wouldn't need any help. Looking into her bag she withdrew the only weapon she had. The flintlock pistol that she had killed Kuro with. She had hoped she would never need to use it again but maybe that was foolish.

Zoro noticing that Choo was distracted gave his full attention to Hatchan. Hatchan ready his blades pointing all six of his blades directly at Zoro while running full tilt at him.

Zoro caught the six of his blades between the two he had in his hands. Hatchan used this to split the two blades apart opening him up for a head but to his wounded chest. However with the Wado Ichimonji clenched in his teeth he brought the blade across the octopus-man's face sending the man reeling back grabbing his face.

In the woods Usopp threw down some caltrops hoping that in the dim lighting the fishman wouldn't notice. And he was rewarded with yelps of pain.

Looking back Usopp could see Choo pulling a caltrop from his foot looking around on the ground to avoid stepping on anymore. This was his chance!

He withdrew his another Don Bomb and took aim at the distracted Choo. He let it loose when he had taken aim watching as it sailed towards the fishman.

Choo looked up at the last second trying to figure out where his quarry had gone. In the shade of the trees he didn't even see the projectile coming as hit him straight in the chest letting out another boom. Only this time it also ignited the alcohol that was currently soaking Choo. Letting out a pained roar he began rolling around on the ground hopping to put himself out.

As he was doing so he noticed a figure above him swinging down something heavy looking. Was that a hammer? He thought this as he drifted off into unconsciousness.

Usopp after knocking the fishman out had put out the rest of the flames. After all he didn't want to cook the defeated fishman. Looking back to where he came from he dashed back to hopefully find Zoro having finished off his enemy. Usopp had to smile to himself. He had actually done well for his first fight! He hoped Kaya would be proud of him.

As Usopp was running back the two swordsmen could be seen breathing heavily. A tinge of red could be seen in Zoro's bandages as some of the smaller ones had reopened. He had to get this fight over quickly before he began losing too much blood.

Hatchan wasn't faring much better as he was bleeding heavily as well. The wound on his face was currently bleeding into one of his eyes obscuring his vision. He knew just what technique to use to bring down this human swords men. He began moving all six of his arms in a seemingly random pattern. As they moved they became faster and faster until it was almost impossible to differentiate his swords as they created a maelstrom of blades.

He slowly walked at Zoro coming closer and closer he knew that even a swordsmen with three swords couldn't hope to block all his blades.

Zoro prepared himself as well. Holding both blades in position he waited for Hatchan to get closer. When he begun to feel the air from the octopuses blades he gave a shout of Oni Giri, and launched himself at Hatchan.

Hatchan watched as amazingly each of his blades was stopped by the swordsman. Feeling the blades slash across his chest he collapsed to his knees.

Zoro sheathed his blades as he watched Hatchan fall to the ground unconscious. That was when he saw Usopp come running out of the forest. However Zoro's wound had started to bleed too much as he fell to one knee. Kaya and Usopp came running and helped him to lay down against a tree. Kaya began to redress his wounds with Usopp's help.

All three were wondering how the fight at Arlong park was going.

* * *

><p>And so the mob found themselves at the gates of Arlong Park. The fishmen had noticed the armed crowd and had prepared themselves for battle. Arlong could be seen standing in the middle of his courtyard towering above the other fishman.<p>

He looked towards the group with barely constrained blood-lust. 'These weak, stupid apes dared come here? They had even armed themselves thinking that would give them the upper hand.'

But he had to wonder where the hell is top three men were. He had sent Kuroobi to kill Genzo. But here he was leading an armed rebellion to his very gate.

"Nami I have to say I'm surprised. Bringing a group to what? Bring down my empire? Don't make me laugh." Arlong said menacingly. But then he was surprised to see someone he didn't recognize giving him a look of pure hatred.

Luffy was staring Arlong down and it unnerved him.

'Who the hell was this kid?' Arlong thought. He was pretty sure he wasn't a villager so he must have come here from somewhere else. But why... then it hit him and he began to laugh.

"Shashasha I see what's happening now! You were too weak to stop me yourself Nami so you got someone to do your dirty work for you eh?"

"You want to kill me? You never learn, do you? How many times did you try to kill me during the eight years you were with us?"

The villagers were surprised to hear this. Looking angrily at Arlong.

"You tried assassination, poison, sneak attacks... Were you able to actually kill me? You must be completely aware that you mere human's can't kill me. Now, listen. I won't kill you... and you can't escape from me... Nami..." He said fixing her with a glare.

"You'll be our surveyor forever. But as you know, I'm a go-" and that was all he got through as suddenly he felt something hit him hard in the head.

He couldn't even see what had hit him, as he went sailing into the wall of his compound destroying parts of it. His head was shaking and he couldn't see straight. What the hell had hit him?!

As he got to his feet swaying lightly his vision came back to him. As he looked up he could see looks of shock coming from all his men and those pathetic villagers were looking just as shocked.

However soon the villagers let out a battle cry as they began charging at Arlong's crew. Nami and the two bounty hunters seemed to be the heavy hitters in this fight as they were taking down pirates left and right.

Arlong realized who must of hit him as his eyes widened in surprise. He locked eyes again with that same kid as before. He was still giving him the same glare only he was now standing fists clenched at his sides where Arlong had been before.

"You dare hit me?! A fishman! I will show you who the superior species are!" He said launching self at Luffy.

Swinging his arm he intended to smash the kid into the ground but was surprised when at the last second his fist hit nothing but air.

Spinning Arlong could see the kid's fist heading to punch him in the side. He quickly snapped his jaw open and clammed down on the fist smirking as he did so.

He heard the satisfying crunch of the kids bones breaking. He looked to the kid and was surprised to see no pain registering on his face.

But soon he realized that he wasn't tasting blood as he should be but was tasting... water?

Spitting out the kid's hand he realized his mistake. He had turned his hand completely to ice. This guy had a devil fruit power? He realized that this fight wouldn't be as easy as he thought it was.

Luffy however had an idea. One of his powers that he had been missing was his gear third ability. Being able to inflate his hand and increase the power of his punches significantly had always come in handy.

So hoping he could create something similar. He turned his right arm to magma while constantly increasing the size of his arm. Then he created a thick layer of ice coating the magma to contain it all inside his arm.

Looking at his arm he now had something that was roughly three times the size of his regular arm. It wouldn't have the range that he had before but it was a start. The arm although it had an icy exterior you could still see the magma pulsing at the core. He quickly copied his new move to his other hand.

He gave a few test punches to see how well the arms moved. They felt a little stiff but he knew he'd definitely be hitting harder.

He looked to Arlong who was currently looking concerned at his new display of powers. Not wasting anytime he threw himself at Arlong shouting "Hie Magu no Ken!"(chilly mag fists)

Arlong dodged the first fist but felt the second connect with his ribs knocking him back several feet. He definitely felt the blow of that one. No ribs were broken but he could feel his side bruising up from the impact.

However one thing he had noticed was that the kid's speed had decrease with the increase in power. Speed was something he could take advantage of he thought smirking at Luffy.

He jumped into the water. He was going to use his shark darts ability to skewer the straw hat brat. Swimming a good distance down he watched as the stupid kid leaned over the water to try and see where he went.

Hitting the bottom of the inlet he used his powerful legs to kick himself off the bottom shooting towards Luffy.

Luffy watching this happen stuck his enlarged hand into the water shouting "Hei Hei no Keimusho!" (Chilly Chilly Prison)

Arlong not seeing the imminent threat shot at Luffy. Only at the last second did he realize that he was deathly cold as the ice entombed him.

Luffy pulled Arlong from the water. He was entrapped in an ice prison connected to Luffy's fist. Luffy lobed the fishman towards the fortress of Arlong park. His hand snapped off flying with it but the stump quickly reformed on Luffy's arm.

The mass of ice hurtled at the fortress smashing into the front entrance as Arlong unknowingly helped destroy his own fortress. As it crashed through the ice broke up freeing Arlong as he flew through the walls of his fortress.

Crashing into the ground Arlong began to gather his wits. Slowly standing to his feet he began to reassess his situation. He hadn't even managed to damage the kid yet. He thought of the kid's weaknesses. He soon realized he might only have one chance to end this fight.

Slowly walking towards the entrance he began to laugh "Shashasha I'm surprised that a human can rival my strength!" Arlong said. Unknown to Luffy he had collected some water from Luffy's attack in the palm of one of his hands.

"Arlong your time is done on this island. Nami is my nakama now and I will never let you hurt her!" He said staring Arlong down.

Arlong smirked at this. "Oh really?!" and he launched his water towards Johnny.

Johnny was currently fighting another fishman, and had no idea of the attack currently flying at him.

Luffy jumped in the way freezing the pellets as they hit his arms.

Turning towards Arlong his eyes grew wide "No..."

Arlong had Nami by the throat, holding her high above the ground. "Every human better drop their weapon unless they want her neck snapped!" Arlong growled at the humans.

One by one the villagers dropped their weapons. The bounty hunters quickly followed not wanting their sis to get hurt.

The fishman began cheering as their leader turned the fight in their favor. Although some were rethinking Arlong's superiority considering what the last few minutes of fighting between him and the human had shown them.

Arlong laughed looking at Luffy. "I have to say you are stronger than any human I have ever met. But you still have weaknesses human. If you care for this girl you will give up now! I want Nami to spend the rest of her days drawing ocean charts for me... However if I can't have her then I'll make sure no one has her. I'm going to snap her neck and you can watch as she dies if you don't give up now!" Arlong said squeezing Nami's neck a little harder causing her to squirm and cry out in pain.

Luffy stayed completely still staring at the scene before him. This exact scene had played out only one time before.

* * *

><p>"Straw Hat this is the end for you and your crew!" Akainu said as he chocked the life out of his last crew member.<p>

Bathing his hand in magma he watched as the girl in his grasp screamed as she was burned alive. Magma quickly silencing her as her flesh melted off her bones.

Luffy watched the silent pain show in Nami's eyes before they glazed over in death.

Akainu dropped her into the oceans of lava that now bathed the island. Looking at Luffy he laughed.

Luffy could only watch in horror as he watched the last of his nakama leave this world.

* * *

><p>And something snapped within Luffy.<p>

Arlong watching the straw hat looked on in astonishment as the kid vanished in a strange vapor.

Everyone had stopped moving. They all began looking around in confusion.

Then the cold enveloped them all.

First a chill covered the area. The vapor that Luffy had disappeared to was now covering the area. It began to get colder and colder as all the people in the area could feel a sense of dread in the pit of their stomach.

The sense of superiority the fishman had been feeling vanished in an instant as fear replaced it.

Arlong having enough of this looked to Nami and began to squeeze. Whatever that bastard was doing he was going to pay for it.

However as he watched suddenly a flash obscured his vision as Nami dropped out of his grasp.

Although he realized that wasn't quite true. He could no longer feel his hand. Looking down he realized that he now only had a frozen stub past his elbow. His arm had been cut off. He couldn't even feel it the cold was enveloping him too much he had a hard time feeling anything.

"W-What are you doing?!" he said as he stepped back. For the first time in his life Arlong could say he truly feared a human.

He saw his arm drop to the ground and Nami landed on her feet stumbling and coughing as she regained her breath.

Nami wondered what had happened. She thought she was going to die one second and then the next she was free to breath. Had Luffy saved her?

Then it appeared.

It was a mass of ice and magma. And it grew larger and larger forming more human features as it did so. It had two legs and two massive arms. It's torso was roughly human shaped but it featured craters in its back that slowly began leaking magma as they formed. A beating core of magma could be seen pulsing in the chest of the monster. Magma flowing through its body as if it were blood.

Arlong looked into the face of the monster as it loomed over him. It had to be around two feet taller then him and the monster walked in a hunched over manor meaning it was taller then it appeared. It's head was shaped like a human's but it had no features except two empty sockets were eyes would be. And he watched as they slowly glowed red. Then he watched as magma poured from the two eye sockets. It looked as if it were crying blood.

Arlong could only stand his feet routed in place. He realized that he wasn't afraid of a human.

He was afraid of a demon.

It roared as it lashed out at Arlong smashing it's enlarged fist into Arlong chest sending him crashing back into the Arlong strong hold. Human's and fishmen alike scattered as this behemoth began its attack. Fishmen jumped into the water as human's ran for the only entrance. Nami stood and watched as the beast turned towards her. She saw the empty eyes leaking magma as it stared at her. Then it turned back to where Arlong should be.

Nami knew she had to get out of the area and ran to the entrance like the rest of the villagers.

'What happened to Luffy?' was her only thought as she ran towards the entrance.

The beast began lumbering towards Arlong. Each step and movement creating a snapping sound as the icy limbs moved. Leaving a trail of magma sinking into the ground as it walked. Each step impacting the ground shattering the tiles.

Arlong could only let out pained wheezes as he laid at the bottom of his fortress. His ribs had definitely been broken this time He watched as the ice giant walked towards him. The magma at its core pulsing steadily. Terrified he could only watch the expressionless face of the monster as it came closer and closer to him. Leaking magma as it loomed over him. Drops of magma landed on his legs but he was too cold to feel anything. He watched as the his legs began burning as the magma collected at the beasts feet.

The beast let out another blood curdling roar as it raised its fist and began smashing Arlong into the ground one thunderous fist strike after another.

Arlong had died after the first hit but the beast was too blinded by anger to care.

The onlookers could only watch in a mixture of awe and horror as the Arlong fortress base shook with each powerful strike of the beast. Magma could be seen leaking out the entrances of the first floor. With a great groan Arlong park gave one last shudder as it collapsed in on itself.

For a while there was no movement. People began to wonder what had happened to the giant? Had the fortress collapsing down onto it killing the beast as well?

Then they watched as the rubble shifted and moved as pieces were shoved out of the way.

The giant stood hunched over in the ruined remains of the fortress. It had accomplished its purpose.

Nami hoping that it was safe to do so ran towards her captain. She may not be able to recognize him but she knew it was him all the same.

The giant grew smaller and smaller as she ran towards it until, Luffy fell from the remains of the monster as the ice shattered around him.

He hit the ground unconscious as Nami rushed to his side.

'What just happened...' was all she could think of as she held her captain in her arms.

* * *

><p>The next morning Luffy awoke to a place he didn't recognize. He was in a bed and as he looked around he noticed similarities. It looked like he was in the cabin that Nami had grown up in with Nojiko. He noticed a glass of water next to the bed. He took a drink out of it as he walked towards the window. He looked out to see the tangerine orchard.<p>

He began thinking of the events last night. He had killed Arlong. But he hadn't really been in control. He remembered the intense anger and hatred he had felt. It had driven him to the point of blood lust last night. He felt sickened just thinking about it. But Nami was alive...

Finishing the glass he left the room wondering if anyone was still in the house. He headed down the stairs and found Nojiko washing dishes in her kitchen.

"Oh so you're finally up eh?" She said without turning around. "I hear you gave everyone quite the scare with your little display."

"To be honest I don't really remember much from the fight. Arlong did something and I remember... I don't really know." Luffy said he didn't like lying but... he didn't really want to talk about it right now.

"Hmm... Is that so... We'll it seems you killed Arlong and leveled his stronghold." She said looking at Luffy seriously.

"Huh... Weird." Luffy said scratching his head.

"I'm going to have to ask you something Luffy." Nojiko asked looking right at Luffy. "Is it dangerous for my sister to be sailing with you?"

Luffy looked at her and thought about her question. Could what happened last night happen again?

"Yes it will be dangerous at times, but... I can promise that I'd die to protect her."

"Hmm... I guess I can believe that... on one condition." Nojiko said.

Luffy cocked his head. "Oh?"

"Yeah if you let me join too. After all I have to make sure my little sister is safe and sound... aaaand I happen to like that chef of yours... real charmer that one." Nojiko laughed.

"Really? Huh..." Luffy said thinking about it.

What had changed since last time beyond the destruction of the park. He supposed that Nojiko and Sanji must have spent some time together since he had rested here after his fight. Was that the reason?

Shrugging Luffy said. "Sure sounds good to me. Uh would you mind telling me where everyone is?"

"Well I think most of your crew is still celebrating in the village with the rest of the villagers. But Nami is somewhere else."

"Alright well I don't really feel like celebrating to be honest. Would you mind telling me where Nami is then?"

Looking at him she decided it wouldn't do any harm. "Sure." she described how to get to where Nami was.

Luffy thanked her as he set off.

As he began coming closer to his destination he realized he recognized where he was heading. He had met Genzo there before. Why was Nami visiting the grave, had she known them?

As he came across the grave he saw Nami sitting on the cliff nearby. She was currently holding her left arm as she looked out over the ocean.

"Hi Nami." Luffy said as he sat down next to her

"Luffy! Your awake how are you feeling?" Nami asked looking at him concerned.

"A well I'm not hurt so that's good... but..." he left the statement hanging not sure how to finish.

Nami merely nodded. Showing him her arm she showed the new tattoo she had gotten to cover the old Arlong tattoo.

It was the same pinwheel and tangerine tattoo that she had before.

"I don't mean to pry but did you know the person buried there?"

Nami nodded sadly. "She was my mother... She was killed by Arlong when he first came to this island."

"Oh..." Luffy said dumbly. How could he never have known that?

Looking at Nami he couldn't help but feel that things were not the same as what they had been between him and... the Nami that had died.

"I didn't know I'm sorry... I can leave if you want." Luffy said looking concerned.

"No... it's alright you can stay."

They sat together in silence for awhile merely watching the ocean as the tide moved in and out on the shore of the island.

"Luffy... what happened?" Nami asked looking at Luffy. She looked confused and concerned at the same time.

Luffy deflated a little bit at the question. He had a hard time meeting her gaze so he continued looking at the horizon instead. "When I saw Arlong chocking you... it made me remember something I've been trying very hard to forget. And after that I just... lost control I guess. I wanted to kill him so much. I just... couldn't lose anyone like that again."

"I haven't really gotten over... over the things I saw. The things I saw before I was sent back here." Luffy said misty eyed.

Nami looked at him concerned. She said gingerly "...Are you talking about how we died?"

Luffy just nodded.

"It wasn't just that though. It was the enjoyment as he tore all of you away from me that was the worst part I think. Because of the dream I had he wanted to crush all of us. Killing all of you was how he defeated me. After watching you all die I realized that I had no one left to fight for."

"You know this power I have." Luffy said as he used the magma to transform his hand. "This is the power that has killed everyone I've ever cared for. He killed my brother with it. He killed my nakama with it. And he would have killed me with it."

Nami could only look at him surprised to hear all the terrors he had witnessed. Watching him stop his power she pulled him into a hug. "I'm so sorry Luffy."

She held him as she could feel a silent sob shudder through him. She felt her shoulder dampen as his tears wetted the material of her shirt. And she herself began to cry as she tried to comfort her captain.

"Luffy." she said still holding him. "That future... we'll makes sure it never happens. Alright?" with this she pulled away smiling at him blinking away her tears.

Luffy simply nodded at first but then smiled as well. "Yeah. I'll protect you guys this time."

"No Luffy. Your acting like it was your fault." Nami said looking a little angry with him. "It's not just your responsibility. Were nakama remember? It's all of our job to protect each other. We will all get stronger so your never put in that position again." Nami said confidently. "We'll face whatever challenges come our way together."

Luffy surprised at first smiled again. "Yeah that sounds good."

And they both turned back to watching the horizon. They were both reassured of the coming future.

And Luffy took one of his first real steps to accepting his loss.

* * *

><p>AN: So yeah... I wonder what you guys think of that fight with Arlong. I liked it. I think it shows how somewhere below the surface of Luffy there is something very much not right with him because of what he's been through.<p>

But don't take this as Luffy is going to hulk out evey time he think's a nakama is in danger. This was just an extreme situation that just dredged too much of what is plaguing Luffy up. But the power that he used in the fight I call it Hie Magu no Kyojin or Chilly Mag Giant. He won't really have that extent of power for awhile until he begins to control it. The arms were just an example of something more his current power level.

Also sorry the chapter isn't as long as I promised that I was going to shoot for in overall chapter length, but the fact that the ending was heavier then most of my chapters it would have felt weird then going to the party or something showing the rest of them celebrating. That will all come next chapter though.

So yeah next chap will definitely be the average length I'm shooting for.

The poll is still up for Tashigi or Kuina. Since the time I posted the poll I have actually come up with a really good (in my opinion) of a way Tashigi can join so if that's who wins then I am prepared for a good story for either one. I won't say which one is winning but they are pretty neck and neck so if you have a strong opinion one way or another please vote! Thank you.

EDIT: I'd also like to point out that I do have a good idea for Kuina as well in case that sway's anyone's opinion. A reviewer made me realize that I hadn't made that all that clear.

Also I changed the story to M. I felt like the violence was a little more then a T rating but maybe people will disagree with that.

Other then that hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for all your support.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

><p>Back at the village the party was still going strong. The villagers were excited to finally be free from the influence of Arlong and the Straw Hat's were just happy to be a part of it. Earlier that day the marines had visited and arrested most of the fishmen. They had come because some survivors of Gosa had managed to contact them. However when they got there they found that the island had already been liberated.<p>

The captain was surprised to see that the villagers had managed to take down a pirate crew... But with no one else coming forth and taking credit he chose to accept it. The people of Gosa while they had initially wanted to leave this island were now happy that they could stay. So the marines had left with the fishmen in custody.

He knew that an arrest of this size was certainly going to go a long way. Arresting most of a pirate crew with a confirmation of the death of a 20 million berry pirate. If he just fudged the facts a little bit him and his men could be the heroes of this whole situation.

Now he was on his way to the nearest marine base where he would get in contact with his superiors and they would tell him what to do with the prisoners.

Unfortunately for him though, a certain marine spy had already sent the official report for what had happened on that island.

* * *

><p>People of the village were excited to finally get their lives back from Arlong. No more cowering under his rule. No more monthly tributes. And they would no longer have to watch as their children and family went hungry as Arlong horded their island's wealth.<p>

Zoro and the bounty hunter duo were currently drinking with a crowd of villagers. Yosaku and Johnny were currently regaling the villagers in the tale of how Zoro had gone toe to toe with Hawk-Eye the world's greatest swordsman and lived.

Usopp had managed to drag Kaya into singing about how great he and his crew where. It was light hearted and Kaya was enjoying it immensely.

Nojiko had just strolled into town to find Sanji attempting to woo some of the local girls. Which was actually mildly successful considering some had actually witnessed his fight with Kuroobi. However strolling up to him confidently she pulled him away from the fawning girls and pulled him towards the bar.

Sanji was first annoyed to see he was being kept from his adoring female fans but when he noticed who was pulling him away his anger quickly faded. And he calmly followed her to wherever she may take him.

He had gotten to know her over the past day where he recuperated on her couch and could say that the two of them actually got along quite well. Although she did seem to have a problem with his flirty behavior... but he was sure she would come around.

At one point in the party Dr. Nako had gotten the attention of Kaya and wanted to give her some of his own notes and books on skills that she would hopefully find useful. He had looked over Zoro's wounds after the fight and had found that the wounds had been treated properly. Although the stitching could use the hand of a seasoned doctor it was still done quite well.

He had been impressed with the girl's skills especially when he found out that she had lacked an actual tutor in the skill. He knew one day she would become a great doctor. Especially if she found someone to tutor her along the way. Which is why he was happy to give her supplies and texts to help her in her journey to become a doctor.

* * *

><p>Luffy and Nami decided to join the party back at the village. Both shared a comfortable silence as they walked towards the village. Nami still in possession of Luffy's hat handed it over to Luffy who put it back on his head.<p>

Although Luffy began wondering how the village would feel about his victory. Would they be scared of him? He could only wonder as they made their way back.

Entering the village they were greeted with cheers as Cocoyasi village welcomed it's hero. Luffy was surprised to see that no one held what had happened at Arlong park against him. He met up with his crew as they told him how they had won their own battles. Usopp was very proud of his victory and Kaya was as well.

Luffy had learned that some of the fishmen he escaped the island after the battle. Namely Choo and Hatchan who had been on the road between the village and the stronghold when the Marines had shown.

Luffy was glad to hear that Hatchan had gotten away. It had been hard to see a person that was once his nakama his enemy again. He had been surprised to hear about Choo but in all honesty he had no idea if he had even been captured the last time.

And so the party continued on. Now that the hero of the island and Nami where here, the party only got more intense as the night went on. Nami had managed to drag Luffy into a drinking contest. He had never really had a taste for alcohol before but he relented when it came to Nami's insistence.

He had been surprised to see that he could hold his liqueur quite well. Zoro at one point had joined and now it was just between the three of them as the rest of the participating village had either bowed out or passed out.

The three seemed to be still going strong although all were very obviously drunk. They decided to call it a truce for now and headed for the lodging that had been accommodated for them by the village. Luffy and Nami however headed back towards Nojiko's home.

On the way there Luffy told Nami about Nojiko's plan.

"S-so you knooooow..." Luffy said slurring his words a little. "Your ssssister. She wants to come with us."

"Whaat do yooou meean Luff?" Nami asked mispronouncing his name.

"She waaants to bee a PIRATE!" He shouted the last part. "Alsooo something or other about Sanji... I forget..."

"What about Sanjiiii?" Nami asked.

"IIII don't knowww Naaami. Ask herrr." Luffy slurred back. 'This booze stuff is pretty great!' Luffy thought to himself.

"Fiiine! I will! Not tonight thoouuugh... I'm tired." Nami said.

Luffy nodded at that he was as well.

And finally they came across the cottage. There weren't any lights on so either Nojiko was asleep or she wasn't here. They walked inside and Luffy and Nami headed upstairs.

Luffy made to walk into the room he had slept in before but was surprised to see Nami was as well.

"Waaait... Iiis this your rooom Nami?" Luffy asked.

'Oooh yeah... I slept on the couch last night... I suuuppose I could do that again..." Nami said.

"Nonononoooo." Luffy said. "I'llll sleep on the couch this timeee!" he said as he made to move down stairs but was stopped by Nami gripping his arm.

"Weeell we could both sleep heeere. The bed IS big enough for two..." Nami said blushing a little bit.

Had she been sober she never would have asked for this. But with a bit of liquid courage she asked.

"Sure!" Luffy said. He didn't really think anything more to it than two nakama sharing sleeping arrangements.

Nami almost surprised at his easy going nature followed him into the room. Luffy hopped into bed first and slid over to one side as Nami almost reluctantly followed him.

They both pulled up the covers preparing to sleep. Nami was unsure about what was currently happening. She was glad that Luffy hadn't put any more thought into her intentions when she invited him to bed but was unsure what that meant on their overall relationship.

Was he just to innocent to fully understand the meaning of what was happening or was he just so uninterested in her as a woman that he hadn't even considered it.

Looking over she saw him already snoozing quietly. Almost hesitantly she touched her fingers to the scar that ran in an angry X across his chest. No one had asked him about it so far but she had to admit she was curious.

As she traced the X she wondered whether he had always had it. Like it was some childhood accident of his or if maybe it was something that was done to him in the future. And if so what had caused it?

But she decided she was too drunk to think on such depressing things as that. So with her hand still on his chest she felt herself drifting off to sleep. Although as she did so she heard a peculiar thumping noise in the background. But she didn't really think anything more of it before she finally closed her eyes and slept.

* * *

><p>The next morning Nami found herself wrapped around some warm being. Her eyes snapped open at this as last night's memories became hazily clear. She had gone to bed with Luffy. Looking at the scene before her she saw that currently she had her arms wrapped around Luffy who was currently facing away from her.<p>

She was currently pressed into his back snuggled into this form. She slowly began to extract her arms from around him and began to get herself out of bed. Standing up she looked at her captain who still slept peacefully.

She was glad that nothing else had happened she thought embarrassed to herself. She can't believe what she had asked of him. She knew that her feelings were likely a little more than just nakama towards her captain, but she certainly wasn't sure enough of that to share a bed with him.

She walked out of the room intending to get herself some coffee to start her day. However she was greeted by her sister doing the same as she walked out her own room closing the door behind her.

Nami blushed as she quickly shut her door behind her. Nojiko raised an eyebrow as she noticed Nami looking embarrassed but said nothing as she walked downstairs with her sister following.

They had begun brewing coffee as the two sisters began talking about the party.

Although eventually the discussion came to Nojiko's decision to come with them.

"But Nojiko what about the grove? I thought you wanted to look after it." Nami asked.

"Don't worry about the grove. I've already talked to a few people in the village. Genzo is going to help make sure that grove is taken care of and the village is more than willing to help." Nojiko said.

And it was that moment that someone could be heard coming down the stairs. Nami tensed up and ducked her face into her coffee cup. How the hell was she going to explain this to her sister?

And at the bottom of the stairs appeared Sanji much to Nami's surprise. "W-What are y..." she started to say before her brain caught up with her. She thought back to that odd noise she heard before she fell asleep. "No..." she said trailing off looking at her sister.

Nojiko merely smiled back "What?" she said with feigned confusion.

"Y-You t-two..." she stuttered out.

"Yup." Nojiko said bluntly.

Sanji silently walked over and got himself some coffee as well. Choosing to wisely stay out of this one between the sisters.

"Soo... you two... are together then?" Nami asked looking between the two.

"Eh... I suppose...ish. Nothing formal I guess." Nojiko said.

Sanji merely nodded.

"Hey Sanji! You slept over too?!" a voice shouted from the stairwell.

All three of turned in surprise to see Luffy.

"Luffy!" Nami shouted while Sanji shouted "Luffy?!"

Nojiko merely laughed. "So little sis... seems you had a guest of your own last night I take it?"

Nami spluttered out "It's n-not how it looks!"

Luffy confused said "But Nami you did invite me in last night remember?"

"Well yeah... But it's not what they think!" Nami shouted at her clueless captain.

"But I slept over. Just like Sanji did right?" Luffy asked.

"NO! Not like Sanji did!" Nami shouted back.

Luffy somehow more confused now then he was before merely pouted while he tried to figure out what was going on.

Nami looking towards her sister "We didn't sleep together."

"Yeah we did! Remember Nami? Me and you slept together last night. Same bed and everything. You have a bad memory Nami..." Luffy interrupted.

Nami at least had one of the questions she had last night answered. He was both too innocent and moronic to take the invitation to mean anything more then what it was.

Nojiko was grinning madly at this point. It was really too cute. Seeing her sister blushing a bright red while trying to explain herself while Luffy just kept digging a deeper hole for the two of them was too much.

Sanji wisely was currently keeping his face in his coffee cup drinking slowly. He still was avoiding getting involved.

"Don't worry sis I know just what is going on." Nojiko said winking to her sister.

"No you don't!" she said seeing the wink.

"It's ok me and Sanji will keep your two's relationship a secret."

Sanji nodded at this spilling some coffee.

Nami face faulted into the counter this was way too annoying to explain with Luffy here.

Luffy was still confused. Thinking to himself 'Why would the fact that they were nakama be a secret?'

But he simply sat down and looked at Sanji expectantly.

"If we weren't doing the same thing then what were you doing here last night?"

Sanji started to cough spilling the rest of his coffee on himself as he thought of a way to explain that.

"Well Luffy, Sanji and I were having sex." Nojiko said simply.

"Hmm... and what's that?" Luffy said looking to Nojiko.

All three were stunned. How did he not know? They were all about the same age right? Surely he would have figured that out by now.

Nojiko the first to recover began to speak "Well Luffy why don't you ask Nami to show you what it is."

Sanji who at the moment was currently trying to blend into the background at the moment started to have a nosebleed.

"Ok." Luffy said turning to Nami he opened his mouth to ask but found her hand placed firmly over his mouth.

"Don't ask me that!" Nami said looking embarrassed at him. "I will **tell** you what it is..." She said looking towards Nojiko with narrowed eyes. "...outside." she finished as she grabbed him by the hand and led him outside.

Nojiko calmly looked to Sanji who was currently dabbing at his nose. "Do you want me to show you what sex is?" she laughed.

Sanji's nose bled returned with full force as he found himself grinning and nodding his head fervently.

And so the two headed upstairs to resume last night's activities.

* * *

><p>Outside Nami was currently looking at her captain who in turn was looking at her expectantly.<p>

"So..." Nami began not sure how the best way to explain this was."Uh... sex. It's something that is done... between two people who love each other very much."

"Oh. So Sanji and Nojiko love each other?" Luffy said.

"Uh..." Nami said not sure of that herself. "That's none of our business. Love can be personal... between those involved." Nami said lamely. She didn't really want to explain what friends with benefits was or whatever their relationship was.

"But..." Luffy began to say. "... I love all of my nakama. So why won't you show me what sex is?"

Nami just stared at him. Blushing she began to wonder if it really would be easier just to show him. Shaking her head she began her explanation.

"There are different kinds of love Luffy... Like the love between nakama is different than the kind of love that... makes you want to have uh... sex with someone."

"Oh... So it's like a mystery love then?" Luffy said.

Nami wasn't really sure how to explain that, but figured it would be easier to just say "Yes. That's exactly it Luffy."

"Soo... the love between us is different right?" Luffy said and Nami merely nodded. "So you don't want to have sex with me then?" Luffy finished looking innocently at Nami.

Nami's blush returned as she thought of a way to answer. "Uh you would know the answer to that question if you had a deeper feeling of love between you and me then you would let's say between you and Zoro."

She didn't really want to say either way considering she wasn't even sure of her own feelings for her captain. So she figured it would be easiest if she left it at this.

"Oh ok..." Luffy said thinking on this. So if he loved someone more than a nakama he would want to have sex with that person... Well whatever sex was.

"So... If I decide I love someone more than a nakama... would they show me what sex is?" Luffy asked Nami.

"M-Maybe it depends on whether that person loves you as much as you love them." Nami said.

"Hmm..." he thought he was finally understanding all this love and sex stuff. "So if I decide I love you more than a nakama and you say you love me more than a nakama... then you'll show me what sex is?" Luffy asked.

Nami exhausted said "Yes Luffy. If that happens I'll show you what sex is..." she hopped that would be the end of this. "But don't tell anyone that!" she said quickly.

"Ok!" Luffy said. He was happy that he had sort of figured this stuff out. But he realized that he had a lot of thinking to do. 'What did it mean to love someone more than a nakama?' he thought to himself.

Nami had begun hearing thumps again from the direction of Nojiko's room. She noticed Luffy's ears perk up as well as he picked up on this.

Before he could ask though Nami suggested they go back to the village to see the rest of the crew. Hoping to avoid any further confusion Nami told Luffy that if anyone asked where he was last night to say that he had slept on Nami's couch.

Luffy nodded at this. Still stuck in his own thoughts.

* * *

><p>In the village most people were just getting around. They were groggy after the previous nights occurrence. Some were just waking up from a drinking contest they hadn't been aware they lost. However all conscious or unconscious were ready for another day without the rule of Arlong and another day of celebration.<p>

The Straw Hat crew had started to come around at this point as well. Zoro could be found looking between a restaurant and a bar. He decided eventually that he was too hungry to skip out for now so he went to the restaurant.

Zoro walked in to see Usopp and Kaya already having lunch. They waved him over and he sat down with them, and ordered his food.

They exchanged pleasantries and all three had wondered where some of their crew had gotten too. Luffy and Sanji had apparently never turned into the house that had been set up for them.

However they found one of their missing persons when he walked in with Nami. They saw the others and joined them.

"So Luffy where'd you get to last night?" Zoro asked sending the occasional glance Nami's way.

She glared at the swordsman but said nothing.

"Oh... I... slept on Nami's couch!" Luffy said smiling and then looked towards Nami quickly before looking back to the other three.

Nami groaned as the three looked her way. "Yeah he followed me back to my house because that's where he was put up after the fight the previous night. So he slept on the couch."

The three seemed to believe that although they still seemed a little skeptical.

"Well do you guys know where Sanji is? None of us have seen him."

Luffy perked up at this "Oh we do!"

Nami shot a glance at Luffy. 'He wouldn't!' she thought.

"He's having sex with Nojiko!" Luffy said confidently grinning at his crew.

Nami slammed her head down on the table with a loud groan. 'He would...'

Usopp surprised at this declaration said "Wait Nami's sister? He's... oh...uh... Alright I guess that answers that."

Luffy still smiling still without any real idea of what he was saying gave a thumbs up in Nami's direction.

She just groaned again.

An awkward silence overcame them all. None really knew how to carry the conversation from that point and Luffy while unaware of the awkwardness was just happy to be with his crew. And so Usopp and Kaya finished their meal and headed out while Zoro, Nami and Luffy waited for their food.

"So Luffy. Where are we headed next then?" Zoro asked.

"We have to go to Loguetown now. And then after that Reverse mountain which will take us to the Grand Line!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Ok sounds good Luffy. Uh anything you think we should know?" Luffy thought of this. He thought of the attack of Buggy the Clown as well as Smoker beginning his long pursuit of the Straw Hat's. And finally he thought of the father that he'd be seeing for the second time, but the first for Dragon.

"No you're probably good." Luffy said.

Zoro nodded at that. Although Nami was focused on the "probably" of what he said.

"Probably?" Nami asked.

"Yup!" Luffy beamed back at her.

Nami although exasperated at first smiled back. He may be a moron but there's no one else she'd rather have as her captain.

* * *

><p>After leaving the restaurant Zoro went on his own way to get something to drink. The villagers were currently setting up their stands for another day of celebration. Sanji and Nojiko had made it back to the village and Sanji was helping some of the cooks set up their own stands.<p>

Nami left Luffy saying that she had some things to take care of back home. Luffy nodded at this and watched as she left. He couldn't help but feel that he did feel more strongly for her then his other nakama. But he wasn't sure he liked the feeling. He felt guilty like he was letting down his other nakama. But maybe it wasn't a bad thing he thought to himself.

However his thoughts were interrupted as he noticed Genzo walking up to him. "Hey kid. I need to talk to you." he said. And he indicated Luffy should follow him so Luffy followed the man.

"I need to talk to you about Nami." Genzo said looking at Luffy seriously. Right now they were at the docks where the Going Merry was now docked. "I've seen her smile for the first time in a long time when she's with you. So I wanted to thank you for that. She's lived a hard life..." he said trailing off.

"I know." Luffy said sadly.

"Good. Well the only other thing I really wanted to say is that when you leave the island with her... Keep her happy. Or I'll kill you." He said with as much menace as he could muster for the savior of their village.

Luffy smiled at this "I promise old man! I'll make sure Nami's happy!"

Genzo nodded happily and the two returned to the village.

* * *

><p>The islanders were currently in full swing with their second straight day of partying. However unbeknownst to them their hero's were currently sneaking off the island. Nami and Nojiko had decided to leave the money that Nami had saved at their old home. Genzo when he went to help tend the groves would find the note and the money that was meant for the village.<p>

Nami and Nojiko didn't really want to have a long sad goodbye with their village so they decided to sneak out while the village was still at its happiest.

There were only four people who were waiting at the dock for them. The bounty hunter duo, Genzo and Dr. Nako.

The bounty hunter duo had decided to stay behind. It was time for them to begin bounty hunting again and they joked that if they were seen with pirates they were going to lose their fame.

Genzo and Dr. Nako were sorry to see the two girls go. But they were happy that they were finally going to live life on their own terms. Bellemere would be proud of her girls., they thought smiling to themselves.

They had some supplies that Genzo and Dr. Nako had helped them gather earlier that day. And after loading up the ship they began their departure.

They waved their goodbye's to the only ones who knew they were leaving. It had been fun traveling with the bounty hunters and the girls would miss their island. But they knew they had to move on and were happy to do so.

* * *

><p>Nami was currently looking at the maps and plotting a course for Loguetown. Following Luffy's advice made the most sense. Loguetown was a popular destination before heading to the Grand Line. And with the last King of the Pirates beginning and ending there it made sense why Luffy was excited to see it again. They could also restock and pick up needed supplies that they would need for their journey to the Grand Line. Reverse mountain was going to be a rough ride she had heard.<p>

Nojiko was watching as her village receded into the distance. She had never left the island before and was surprised she had actually worked up the courage to do so. Although looking at the odd man next to her she supposed he might have had something to do with it.

Sanji was currently smoking his cigarette. As he watched Nojiko.

"You know if we keep doing whatever were doing... I'm not going to tolerate you treating me like a princess all the time right?" Nojiko said calmly to Sanji.

He nodded at that. "I know." He had a hard time getting over it at first but Nojiko had been different from the start he realized. She had demanded that he treat her like everyone else from the beginning.

He wasn't really sure what was going on between the two of them. But for now he knew that he enjoyed what he had with her. So he was happy enough to comply.

Zoro was currently napping on deck.

Usopp and Kaya were talking by one of the railings wondering where they were headed next.

* * *

><p>The Straw Hat's were currently sailing towards Loguetown. On their way there a messenger bird landed on their ship. Nami paid the bird the fee and got the newspaper. Although she complained about the price.<p>

"Don't you think your place charges a little much?" she said glaring at the bird. "Raise it again and I'll stop buying it!" she threatened.

The bird merely saluted, then turned and flew away towards its next potential customer.

"What's the big deal?" Usopp asked. "We've got a ton of treasure..."

"Well when you buy it every day it adds up!" Nami said back.

Usopp said "You know you don't have to obsess about money so much now that you're not trying to earn money for your village right?"

"Now that everything's over, I'm going to earn money for me now!" Nami said pointing at Usopp. "I don't wanna be some poor pirate who can't even dress up!"

"Now let's see if there's anything good today." Nami murmured to herself as she settled down in her deck chair.

First page her eyes widened. On the front page was a bounty of her captain. And below the picture was his new bounty.

"50 MILLION BERRIES!" Nami shouted causing the crew to look at her.

"What's 50 million Berries Nami?" Nojiko asked her sister.

"Luffy's new bounty... It says here that he is accredited with the defeat of Buggy, Kuro, Krieg and finally Arlong..."

"COOOL!" Luffy shouted "Let me see!" he said running over to Nami to see his new bounty.

And sure enough there was his picture plastered above the 50 Million Berry reward. Looking at the picture he saw it was the one that Fullbody had taken laughing as he saw he was picking his nose.

"Oh kami..." Nami said to herself. Anytime anyone thought of the Straw Hat pirates they would think of their moron captain picking his nose.

The rest of the crew gathered to see as well some laughing at the picture while others thought about the consequences of having such a high bounty before they even entered the Grand Line.

But in the end they could only guess what could come their way and so they continued onto their next destination.

* * *

><p>Soon the young pirate crew found themselves at the docks of Loguetown. This was the first time for some of them to see a town so big. Namely Usopp, Kaya and Nojiko. Having grown up in small villages themselves and having never left their own islands this was by far the largest town they'd ever seen.<p>

The pirates decided to split up and do their own shopping. Zoro headed off on his own wanting to find a sword smith to replace the swords he had lost. He had only been able to borrow some swords from the villagers before but had given them back. Plus with the money Nami lent him hopefully he would be able to get some nicer swords then the ones he had before.

Usopp and Kaya set out on their own, promising to meet up with the rest of the crew later.

Sanji and Nojiko left as well. Sanji had to pick up food and other ingredients for his cooking and Nojiko had no real plans of her own so she followed along.

Nami convinced Luffy to go along with her. She wanted to get his opinion on some clothes and she said she'd treat him to lunch if he came along so he agreed. Plus she said they'd stop by the execution platform like he wanted to.

* * *

><p>Unknown to the Straw Hat's the local marine base had received the bounty of the soon to be infamous Straw Hat Luffy. They had just gotten word however that they were also supposedly heading to Loguetown.<p>

Smoker could be seen sitting in his office with the 50 Million Berry bounty. He was looking at the list of pirates the boy was said to have defeated. These were big time pirates that had been terrorizing the East Blue for years. And Kuro was one that he was surprised to see. It had apparently come out that a corrupt captain of the marines had apparently lied about executing the pirate years ago. Funny enough that same captain was apparently brought down by none other than Straw Hat Luffy as well. He looked through the reports, and was surprised at the seemingly good deeds this crew had done.

They had taken out all of the big time pirates in East Blue and seemed to make many allies along the way.

But it was no matter. If they stepped in this town he would bring them in no question. Even though the pirate in question had a devil fruit he had a weapon that could take even them down.

Looking out his window he wondered when they would show up and if the reports would hold true that they would come today. However he didn't have much time to wonder as one of his men came rushing in.

"Captain! We have word that pirates have appeared at the port!" the crew member said saluting his Captain Smoker.

Smoker putting on his jacket and strapping his weapon to his back walked out of his office. With a bounty that high this pirate was likely to put up a serious fight. He was starting to look forward to it.

He ignored his frantic subordinates. They shouldn't worry about a pirate as long as he was there to take care of it. Although he had to wonder where Tashigi had gotten to...

* * *

><p>Zoro could be seen looking into a shop window lamenting on his current financial situation. There was no way he could afford any of these swords. He remembered back onto the huge amount of interest Nami was planning on charging him. Although he was grateful his captain had managed to talk it down a bit... Even if it was now only 200%. But still he'd be in debt to the girl forever at the prices they were charging for the swords in front of him.<p>

However he noticed behind him a crowd had begun to form.

"Aww, shut up! Our boss is behind bars all thanks to him!" a shout could be heard over the crowd.

Zoro began to make his way over to see what was going on.

"Have you still not learned your lesson?!"

"Nope! We ain't happy with things as they are!"

"We're gonna bring your corpse to him to see!"

Zoro was surprised to see two thugs towering over a girl in glasses.

"Very well. I will fight you." the girl countered.

The pirates began to laugh at that. "You will, girlie?!" said one and the other said "Don't make us laugh!"

"What can a girl possibly do?!"

Zoro hearing this began to unsheathe his sword. He was sick of hearing their nonsense. He made towards them starting to draw his sword from its sheathe when he was surprised to see the girl make the first move.

The two thugs had started to bring down their swords on the smaller girl ready to kill her.

The girl dropped the item she had been carrying to reveal it had been a sword in a wrapped sheathe. Which she drew and struck down the men before they could even begin to react.

The two men collapsed to the ground due to their wounds.

Zoro stood in shock he hadn't even realized she'd been armed. The crowd around him began cheering on the young woman.

However that was before she tripped over her swords sheathe and fell on her face dropping her glasses.

Zoro sheathed his sword and made to help the girl up.

He picked up the glasses as he heard the crowd begun a mix of cheering for her victory and jeering for her clumsiness.

He walked over to her intending to give her back her glasses when the girl looked up at him.

He looked at her and could only see Kuina...

With his surprise he accidently snapped the glasses. After his initial shock he could see the differences in her face although they were scarily similar.

The girl had begun to thank him but was interrupted when she heard the shattering of her glasses.

"My glasses!" she shouted at him.

"I-I didn't mean to!" he shouted back.

"Those were expensive! How could you do something so horrible?!"

"I told you, I didn't mean to-!"

"Pay me back for them!" she demanded getting in his face.

Zoro was sweating. He definitely didn't have the money to both pay this girl back and pay for his swords.

* * *

><p>Luffy and Nami could be seen heading towards one of the clothing shops near where they had left the others. Luffy had really only two destinations in mind. To see that old man at the bar again and to see the execution platform once more.<p>

He thought it was weird Nami wanted him to go clothes shopping but he accepted. He didn't really remember how to get around this place anyway so it'd probably be easier this way.

He had given Nami his hat again. He didn't really want people to immediately recognize him and the hat probably would have immediately given him away. After all with Smoker on the lookout for him he might have actually taken the time to look at his bounty this time. If he didn't see him wearing a straw hat he might not make the connection immediately.

Nami began showing him a bunch of different outfits although he didn't really see the point. He thought Nami looked good the way she already was and told her that. She blushed but said that it wasn't good to wear the same outfit all the time.

When they had walked in the man at the counter had tried to hang up his straw hat that Nami was wearing. He had gotten angry at first but Nami had stopped the dude from touching the hat. She told him that whatever outfits she got had to look good with the hat.

The salesman was confused but agreed and began trying to find some outfits that would match well.

In the end she decided that the dude was too greasy of a salesman and begun looking elsewhere. Much to the man's annoyance. But with a glare from Luffy the man quickly stopped his complaining.

The two were headed off in the direction of main street to find some more agreeable clothing stores.

* * *

><p>Usopp and Kaya began exploring the island. Each had their own shopping to do but had chosen to spend some time together as well. The two had begun holding hand's as soon as they got out of sight from the rest of their crew. They weren't really keeping anything secret from their nakama, but they just wanted to explore their own feelings before having it be brought to the crews attention.<p>

Kaya spotted a store advertising medicinal supplies and the two headed in to the store. Within they noticed the large amounts of hanging dried herbs and the medical texts lining the walls in bookshelves.

Hearing the ding of the doorbell as the two walked in, an elderly man walked out from the back of the store. He greeted the two browsing customers and said he was willing to help them with anything they might need. Kaya thanked him as they continued looking.

She picked out some texts and headed over to the shop owner.

"Ah so are you studying to be a doctor young lady?" the man said knowingly.

"Yes... although I'm sailing with..." she said looking towards Usopp. "nakama... and I'm the only one with medical experience even if it's mostly self taught."

"Ah I see." the man said stroking his bushy beard. "May I ask the two of you something?" he asked.

"Uh sure." Kaya said shrugging. Usopp merely shrugged as well.

Nodding the man continued saying "Are the two of you by any chance pirates?" he asked.

The two were surprised and looked at each other nervously. Was this guy going to try and turn them in? Should they run? They thought to themselves.

Seeing the worry on the two's face he tried to reassure them. "I am not asking because I wish to turn you in. I have had many nakama in the past that were pirates themselves although I was never one myself."

"I was only asking because the two of you certainly aren't marines and you didn't look like the kind of folk to be hired workers on a merchants ship."

The two were relieved a bit and the tension visibly left their shoulders. "Yes we are. Although we are admittedly not really seasoned ones. It's really only been a few weeks since we left our home to be honest..." Kaya told the friendly man.

"Ah I could have guessed... So what makes you want to be a pirate doctor? It seems like it would be easier to find someone to apprentice under on an island somewhere then to do it alone." the man said looking to Kaya.

"Well I didn't want to just stay put on my island... I wanted to go on adventures with him." she said looking to Usopp. "So even if it was easier to do so I couldn't become someone's apprentice."

"But the reason I wanted to be a doctor was... Well I've always wanted to help people. Being on a pirate ship means there's a lot of danger..." Kaya said trailing off.

The old man nodded at this. He knew what the seas could be like for pirates.

"But I want to be able to protect my nakama, but I'm not really strong enough nor do I really want to hurt people... So I thought that the best way to do that was to become a doctor. And I find that I do really enjoy the work although I worry that maybe I'm not helping enough..." Kay finished looking down sadly.

"Kaya don't say that... You're a great help to the crew! Zoro likely would never have made it if it weren't for you!' Usopp said looking at Kaya with concern.

"I know Usopp... but still seeing you guys fight and getting hurt while I just stand there waiting to patch you up when you do... it makes me worry that I'm not doing enough." Kaya said looking at Usopp.

"So you want to be strong enough to help your nakama but you don't really want to fight." the old man said looking at Kaya.

Kaya nodded at the old man's statement but felt a little foolish at his observation.

I-I think I have something that could help you." the man said as he turned and headed into the backroom again.

They could hear the man shuffling things around and wondered what he was getting.

And soon the old man shuffled back to the counter this time with a small chest in his hands. He set it on the counter putting his hand on the lid.

"This was given to me a long time ago by a man that I once saved the life of. Later I found out the man was actually a pirate and he said that while he couldn't pay me in money he could give me this instead..." he said as he slowly opened the lid to reveal a strange fruit.

"Is that... a devil fruit?" Usopp asked pointing at the fruit. The man nodded at this confirming Usopp's suspicion.

It was a primarily white fruit with swirls that ended in a light blue color. It was shaped like a pear with the stem being the same light blue color as the swirls.

"That man told me that this fruit was something that would fit a man of my profession. He didn't really say much more then that but... I trust him. He was a good man and not one to lie."

"While I can't promise what it will do, I can say that I think it will help you on your journey."

"Why did you never eat it then?" Kaya asked.

"Believe me I considered many times doing exactly that. I also considered selling it many times but I think the man that gave me it would have frowned on that..." the old man trailed off thinking of his old friend.

"However as the years went by I simply saved it. I never had the courage myself to eat it and in all honesty I probably wouldn't have had much use for it. I've spent my entire life on this island as it's doctor. I have a family here and I've lived a good full life here." he said smiling fondly.

"But I'm an old man now and I have no use for such a thing. I could never sell it and would have no use for the money even if I did." he pulled out the fruit and held it in front of him.

"If you want it you can have it." the man said to Kaya. "I can't promise how useful it will be but I trust the man who gave it to me. That is all I can promise."

Kaya reached out and picked up the fruit in her hand. It looked oddly beautiful for being something called a devil fruit. She examined it as she held it. A fruit that would be useful to a doctor... what could it do then? She assumed it must have something to do with healing our else it probably wouldn't be useful to a doctor. But she had no way of really knowing.

She looked to Usopp to see his opinion. He wasn't sure he could help.

"How about this. I can understand your hesitation to take the fruit but like I said I have no use for it. Take it. If you don't eat it that's fine I would completely understand. I couldn't eat it myself. But please just take it with you. It would only gather dust here. How about you just buy some supplies here and we'll call it even eh?" the old man said smiling.

Kaya thought about it then nodded happily. "Sure I can do that."

So the duo picked up the books and supplies, and Kaya stashed the fruit in her bag. Saying their goodbyes they exited the shop moving on to their next destination.

"I think Roger would be happy with who I gave the fruit to." the old man said as he disappeared into the back of his store.

* * *

><p>Sanji and Nojiko could be seen checking out some of the local fisherman's stores. Nojiko was none too pleased to be surrounded by the smell of dead fish but Sanji promised to be done with it soon, and take her somewhere better smelling.<p>

After selecting the fish he wanted he had some men deliver it to their ship. He carried through on his promise to Nojiko then and took her to main street where they found grocery stores, restaurants and clothing stores.

Sanji picked through some of the stores and got what ingredients he needed for the coming journey. And once again he had them deliver it to their ship so he could enjoy his day with Nojiko.

Nojiko seeing some of the nicer clothing stores in the area decided that it was her turn to pick their destination. Standing in front of a lingerie store she thought that Sanji probably wouldn't mind.

* * *

><p>Nami was telling one of the shop workers what their ship looked like so they could drop off her purchases.<p>

Nami had picked out some clothes with the help of Luffy. Although he really only said no to a couple outfits he had to admit she had looked awfully good in some of them. He felt a strange feeling in his gut when he looked at Nami sometimes. He wasn't really sure what it meant but he wondered if it had anything to do with love.

He decided to keep it to himself though. He remembered talking about it seemed to embarrass Nami so he decided that maybe he should figure it out on his own.

Nami asked if he had anything he wanted to do. He thought back to the Gold Roger bar and looked around. The bar had been in one of the alleys off of the main street and he soon found the alley he was looking for.

"Where are we going Luffy?" she asked.

"There's a bar around here that we need to see! Gold Roger himself drank here and decided to go on his journey to the Grand Line from this very bar."

Nami had to admit that would be interesting to see. Although as she stood in front of the bar that Luffy had brought her to she thought the place looked abandoned.

But Luffy was right the sign said "Gold Roger" with bar written in smaller letters above.

They walked down the stairs and Nami still agreed with her earlier assessment. It was dark and there were old torn up wanted posters covering the walls of the stairwell. As they entered Nami looked around seeing all the tables with stacked chairs.

"Luffy... this place doesn't seem open." she said although she was surprised to see an old man in the corner drinking next to a large skull.

"You work here, old guy?" Luffy asked smiling.

"Scram." the old man said. "This ain't a place for runts like you two." he said glaring at the youngsters.

"Besides, we're closed for good as of today." he said pouring himself another drink.

"Did you go under?" Nami asked the old man.

"It didn't go under! I'm shutting it down myself!" the old man shouted indignantly.

"Now get lost!"

However as he said this Luffy walked over to the last bar stool on the end and sat down facing the man at the back of the bar.

Nami was tempted to say that they should leave but figured Luffy knew what he was doing. Or at least she hopped he did, and followed him sitting on the next stool over.

"I was just curious about the name, that's all." Luffy said.

"Uh what's that giant skull on your table?" Nami asked pointing towards the skull.

"This is what became of a guy once known as Killer Giant." the guy said looking at the skull.

"A villain who sent hundreds of pirates to the afterlife. But Gold Roger sent him to his grave with just one blow." The old man smiled.

"Gold Roger did?" Luffy asked.

"With truly lightning speed!" the old man shouted. "This guy was famous for the absurdly huge blade he used, but their fight ended in the blink of an eye!"

He pointed drink in hand at the stab wound at the center of the giant skull. "And this is the wound he received!"

"But he was an infamous scoundrel himself! With his dying breath, he muttered, Roger... my hat's off to you... May you have honor as the Eternal Pirate..."

"So awesome! So cool!" Luffy shouted.

"Eric Down, the man known as King... Silver Silver, the world's greatest gunman... The giant Gowns Brothers... They were all tough men who were as feared as demons."

"But for Gold Roger, they were as weak as infants."

Nami couldn't help but think that the old man might as well as have been describing her own captain instead of Gold Roger.

"Would ya like to hear more?" the old man asked looking at the two.

"Yeah!" Luffy replied.

"Very few people these days believe this story, you know..."

Nami believed them oddly enough. Having seen what her captain could do it wasn't so hard to believe that the once King of the Pirates had done great things as well.

"That's okay! Just tell me!" Luffy told the old man.

"Hold your horses." the old guy said grumpily.

"Gold Roger... In those days... no, even still, I guess... he was the one and only man who didn't fear the Grand Line."

Nami let out a small laugh accidently at that.

The old man glared at her. "What you don't believe me? Gold Roger was-"

"No, no, no I believe you it's just..." She said trailing off while looking at Luffy. "He isn't the only one who isn't afraid of the Grand Line." she finished confidently.

"Oh?" the old man said surprised.

"Yeah." Luffy replied "Were going to the Grand Line, too!"

"Huh?!"

"Gold Roger's so cool... He's how a pirate should be! That's why I set out to sea."

"I'm gonna go to the Grand Line, get the One Piece, and be King of the Pirates!"

"And Nami's going to help me do it! She's gonna draw a map of all the world's oceans!"

Nami smiled at this as they both confidently looked back at the man.

The old man was surprised. When he looked at Luffy he could only think of the man that had once set out from this very bar and conquered the Grand Line. He got the same feeling from this boy as he did Roger on that day.

"Those're some mighty big words! And in this bar, of all places!"

"He only said what he meant." Nami said. And Luffy grinned again at this.

"If there're are still patrons like you two out there, maybe I'll hold off on closing this place!"

The old man walked behind the bar. "I haven't been in such a good mood since then!"

"I'll treat you two to a drink!" the old man poured the two some rum and poured a glass for himself as well.

They toasted and downed their drinks. The old man thinking about his old friend and how it seemed that this boy might actually claim his friends title.

Nami was thinking about how she and Luffy were going to travel the world and that she was going to finally draw her map but on her own terms now.

Luffy thought about the loss he had faced in the past. But he looked towards the future. There were only a few people that could stand in his way this time around. He was going to make sure he was strong enough that they never would.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry this chapter took a little longer to write then the last couple. But it's a good length this time I think.<p>

To be honest I had planned on making this chapter take from the end of Cocoyasi to Reverse Mountain but I figured that there was still a lot of writing to take us from the end of this chapter to Reverse Mountain so i decided to start a new chapter at this point.

I've got most of the next chapter planned out but it might not be long enough so we may see the entirety of the Reverse Mountain adventure next chapter.

And so we see that Kaya has gotten a mysterious devil fruit. A year ago when I first started writing this story I had a poll that was to determine how she would fight. People voted for her having a very specific type of devil fruit that I won't disclose now. I was unsure at first but I think I've found one that you guys will like. But for anyone that's unhappy that she has a devil fruit sorry... but it was voted on...

Anyway... at one point in this chapter I mentioned age so I figured I'd go over ages so everyone's on the same page of how old the crew is. I decided early on that I wanted most of the crew to be a little older then cannon. It seems just a little weird to write Luffy as being a 19 year old. So the youngest of the crew will have their ages increase by two years pre-time skip this time around.

However older members like Franky and Robin will remain the same age as cannon. And considering Brooke is 90 and a skeleton well... not a whole lot of reason to mess with his age either. Chopper I could go either way I guess. I might just leave it even though he's only 15 the first time around.

So here are the ages of the crew so far...

**Luffy - 21**

**Nami - 20**

**Nojiko - 22**

**Sanji - 21**

**Usopp - 19**

**Kaya - 18**

**Zoro - 21**

So for right now Nojiko is oldest while Kaya is the youngest. I decided that since Kaya's age is never actually mentioned in cannon that I would just make her one year younger then Usopp.

Luffy's age is 21 because he is the same age as my post-time skip Luffy since he was simply sent back in time same body and everything.

Next chapter we will see the conclusion of the East Blue as we move onto the Grand Line and bigger and better adventures.

Also I changed the summary a little bit to show the pairings that are set in stone right now.

Luffy / Nami / Robin is definitely going to happen I figured I'd be upfront about that right now.

Whether there are more Luffy pairings will yet to be seen. It will rely on who joins the Straw Hat's on their adventures and whether or not you guys want them paired.

Usopp / Kaya is also there. That one was probably obvious from the get go.

Sanji / Nojiko as well which you can see from this chapter.

Zoro's is still technically undecided although you guys supposedly can see the results of the poll now. It's still open so feel free to vote. There's only like 30 people who have voted so far so it honestly wouldn't be that hard to completely turn around. I probably would have closed it by now but since a Zoro pairing doesn't really make sense in the immediate future I figured I might as well keep it open.

Tashigi's age is also 21/23 in cannon. I'd be happy keeping it like that or if she does end up being part of the crew and people prefer her to be a little older then Zoro I'd be just as happy doing that.

Kuina would be up to us what her age is considering... Yeah. I think it would make the most sense if she was a couple years older then Zoro like Tashigi is in cannon. But again that would only play a part if she was added to the crew.

I think that's everything I wanted to say so hopefully you guys enjoyed the latest chapter! As always if you have any questions or concerns feel free to pm me or simply leave a review. I always like getting feedback.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

* * *

><p>On an unknown island on the Grand Line...<p>

Dracule Mihawk had just landed. Nearby he could see the ship of an old friend of his. He started to walk up the beach when some low level pirates began quivering at the sight of him.

He walked up to one and said "Take me to your captain."

The man was shaking all over and it took all the courage he had just to nod his head and take off in the direction of his captain.

Soon Mihawk was at their main campsite and could see his old friend clutching his head likely working off a hangover.

"Hey there, Hawk-Eye, What a rare visitor...I'm not feelin' so good at the moment... Have you come to fight me?"

"I don't have any intention of settling things with you now that you've lost your left arm."

He reached into his jacket as he searched for something. "I found an interesting group of pirates, and was suddenly reminded of a story you used to tell."

He said this as he withdrew the scroll he had been keeping in his pocket. He walked over to Red-Haired Shanks as he began to unfurl it.

"A story about an interesting boy from a certain small village..."

As he looked at the bounty his eyes widened. "You don't mean...!"

The others in his crew perked up at this. The description from Hawk-Eye could only mean one thing...

Luffy had made his debut.

"So you've made it, Luffy!" Shanks said grinning widely. "And a bounty that high to start with..."

He looked at the picture of the Straw Hat kid that he had left all those years ago. He looked a little older then he thought he would but that's life on the sea for you he supposed. He had apparently not changed all that much though seeing him with his finger in his nose.

He laughed. It would be Luffy to have such a high bounty with such an innocent expression on his face.

"That kid surprises me Shank." Mihawk said simply as he held the drink Shanks had poured for him. "His powers are very interesting and he has a strange wisdom to him."

Shanks who was currently mid-way through a swig of his own drink spat out in surprise "Wisdom? Luffy? Are you sure you're talking about the kid in the bounty here he said pointing to the picture."

"I did say it was a strange wisdom didn't I? You can see him acting like that without a care in the world one moment. But then I saw the look in his eyes as he helped one of his nakama. They were eyes that have seen some dark things." Mihawk said seriously. "And there's that scar the boy has. I'd be interested to know how he got such a deadly looking scar."

"Pfft that scars no big deal." Shanks said laughing. He had been a little disturbed to hear Mihawk described Luffy that way but when he heard him talking about that tiny scar under his eye like it was life threatening he knew Mihawk was just reading way too much into things.

"He got that as a kid trying to prove that he was brave enough to be a pirate!" He laughed as his crew joined him remembering the incident.

"What?" Mihawk said surprised. That huge jagged red X had been gained as a child?

"Yeah!" Shanks said laughing. "We had been making fun of him when we started saying that he wasn't tough enough to be a pirate."

"But the moron takes a dagger and sticks it under his eye to prove he was tough! He cried like a baby afterwards of course and we had to patch him up."

"You moron. That's not the scar I'm talking about." Mihawk said annoyed. "I'm talking about the one that looks like someone burned something across his chest. It's a giant red X across his chest."

"Wait what?" Shanks said genuinely surprised. His crew shut up at this as well. What had happened to Luffy?

"Well I don't know anything about it. I didn't really have time to ask. He seemed to have a little war going on between himself and Don Krieg so I left. But I watched his fight from afar." Mihawk said.

"Well... alright that's understandable but how was he in a fight? Was he good?" Shanks asked interested. He was more than a little worried about what he had learned about Luffy. What had given him that scar he wondered.

"He's very strong. Surprisingly so to be honest someone raised in East Blue. He's got a strong crew but I don't think any of them really compare against Luffy."

"Oh well that's a shame then about his crew but I'm glad to hear Luffy's tough at least. He'll have to be tough if he wants to survive the Grand Line." Shanks said finishing off his glass.

"No. I did not say that his crew was weak I just said that they didn't compare to Luffy."

"What do you mean?" Shanks asked. He knew Luffy was going to become the greatest of pirates **one** day. But he assumed he wouldn't be all that strong yet.

"He fought Don Krieg with ease. Which to someone of our skill isn't saying much but there were times were I felt he was just holding back so he wouldn't kill the man." Mihawk said seriously.

"Those powers of his... They could really do some harm in the hands of a less capable pirate." Mihawk said looking at the bottom of his mug.

"I didn't see much of this mind you, but I witnessed an impressive control over haki which shouldn't be possible for someone with no training in such a skill. And growing up in East Blue to boot. I don't suppose you had anything to do with training the kid?" Mihawk asked looking at Shanks.

"No... Haki you say? Where'd he learn that I wonder..." Shanks said rubbing his goatee.

"That's not even the half of it. He seems to be teaching his crew as well to control it."

"Really?" Now that was impressive. Luffy teaching? Scary thought that was.

"I fought a swordsman that was on his crew. While he was no match for me at the time... I know he has the drive to one day surpass me."

Now Shanks had been seriously surprised to hear this. Mihawk saying one day there was going to be a better swordsman than him? He thought he'd never see the day.

"But what surprised me most is that one it truly counted the swordsman was able to draw on both observational and armament haki. He was able to destroy the dagger I had in my necklace because of it."

Shanks thought on that. Someone had impressed Mihawk to the point where he thought he would one day surpassed, and the man had bested him when he had been armed only with a knife admittedly. And he wasn't even close to Luffy's strength.

Did you see anyone else in the crew?

"Yes. There were two girls in his crew. I can't say much for them though. One seems to be the ship's doctor, but beyond that I don't know any of their skills. Oh and one was a long nosed boy. Bushy black hair. But again I never saw any of them in action."Mihawk said.

Yasopp perked up at the last part. "Could it be?" he muttered. Could that be his son?

"Mihawk could you describe the boy with the long nose a little more. A name maybe?"

Mihawk thought about it and tried to describe the boy as best he could. Although he had never heard a name to connect with the face.

"T-That might be my son... The description fits him perfectly when he was a small child. But maybe I'm wrong..." Yasopp looked at his captain seriously.

"Captain? Could I ask a favor?" Yasopp asked.

Shanks nodded and listened to his sniper. He thought about his request, and after some thought smiled.

"I think that's something we can do Yasopp." Shanks said smiling to his crew. They gave a cheer as they continued to party.

Mihawk gathered himself. It was time he headed on his way. Hanging out with pirates was not exactly his favorite activity. And so without a word he headed back to his boat.

Shanks watched him go for a few seconds but then turned his eyes towards where the East Blue. And grinned again widely. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

><p>The old man watched the two go. He was glad that he met those two. It gave him hope for the future. That there are still brave people out there willing to fight for their dreams.<p>

He laughed to himself as he wiped the mugs clean. He wondered if Roger was looking down at that boy with that smile of his.

But he was interrupted from his musings when a marine came in demanding he hang a new bounty.

"Fine give it here boy." He glared at the marine as he grabbed the poster. Grabbing a hammer and nail he went to tack it in the wall when he got a look at the picture.

He laughed again and decided to hang this one somewhere special. He hung it behind the bar where at one point he had hung Gold Roger's bounty as well.

"Do us proud kid. Achieve your dream." He said smiling.

Then he watched as couple of men dressed in cloaks wandered into his bar being followed by a young woman.

The two men sat down at one of his tables and the one with the clown nose drew a deck of cards and began shuffling them. They demanded drinks and he figured if he was going to keep this bar open he might as well. He grabbed a bottle and a couple glasses and put them on the table then he walked over to his table and sat down again sipping his own drink.

"I knew it." red nose said grinning under his hood.

"The cards say that detestable runt is already in this town. The time for revenge has flashily come at last!"

"So? Do you successfully take his life" The woman in the cowboy hat asked.

"Obviously." the man said as he laid down his last card.

"The one who dies is..." and he revealed a card with his own face on it.

"Oh. It's you!" the woman laughed.

The man slammed his head down on the table.

It was then that the man with the blue checkered scarf began visibly shaking. He lifted a hand to point at something behind the bar.

"C-Captain! I-It's him!" He said simply.

Alvida and Buggy turned towards the bar and saw what he was talking about.

Alvida walked closer. "50 Million Berries... Why doesn't that surprise me." she said smiling.

Buggy merely looked at it pissed off. He was going to do whatever it took to kill that bastard today. Then the people would know that he was a great pirate to be feared.

It was time to get out of here anyway. Alvida left some money to cover the drinks and they went out the way they came.

The old man laughed it looked like that man made enemies and allies wherever he went. On a day like today... It just seemed to fit he thought.

* * *

><p>Zoro was currently being led down the street by Tashigi who was angrily walking ahead of him.<p>

"Where exactly are we going?!" Zoro yelled after her.

"You broke my glasses."

"I told you. I'll pay you back... somehow."

"You don't look like you would have any money! Something about you just seems off!"

"T-True, I don't have much money, but..."

"Those wrinkles between your eyes!" Tashigi said as she walked up to the swordsman. "That look of having eaten nothing for days!"

Tashigi continued to stare him down "Do you have a sick mother?! Did your wife run out on you and leave you with five babies to nurse?!"

'Where the hell did she get that?' Zoro thought to himself.

"L-Look, you!" he said getting in her face.

She turned and began leading him again "I won't ask for details! Just come with me!"

And so he continued following her until she calmly walked into a marine base.

He stood outside a little nervous. "T-The marines?"

As he followed her inside he watched as she pulled something out of a supply closet. She handed him a bucket and mop and smiled at him.

"The cleaning man just quit his job. If you work for the marines, you'll never need to worry about money!"

"You're a very lucky person!" She said with a smile.

Zoro was visibly annoyed at this point. "Screw that! Why should I work for the navy?!" Zoro shouted.

"You're just going to run off?!" Tashigi said looking at him mad. "You're insulting a person's kindness!"

"Maybe your poor spirit's more of an issue than your money problem?!" she shouted back.

"Look, you!" Zoro began to reply but was interrupted by another marine.

"Sergeant Major! It's time for training!" He saluted to his superior.

"Bye! Please work hard, okay?" She said leaving Zoro with the mop and bucket.

"Sergeant Major?!" Zoro said surprised.

He began doing chores around the place wondering how he got stuck doing this job. He was currently taking out the trash when he noticed two people staring at him.

"Uh..." Zoro began sweating a little bit.

"Just pretend you don't see anything Luffy." Nami said as she pulled Luffy along.

"But why is he taking out the marine's trash Nami?" Luffy said looking confused in Zoro's direction.

"It's none of our business Luffy let's just get out of here."

"Ok." Luffy said happily following his navigator.

'Damn it...' Zoro thought to himself not only was he doing these stupid chores but his captain and that greedy woman had seen him as well.

Zoro annoyed walked back inside looking at all the work he was supposed to do. Angrily he grabbed three mops and used his signature sword style to do mop the floors with surprising efficiency.

At some point Zoro found himself at the training grounds as he watched the woman fight several marines at once.

Seeing her fight and beat everyone with ease, he had a hard time distinguishing her, with Kuina.

It was then that two marines came up to him with hands on their swords prepared to draw.

"What are you doing here?" One said while the other followed with "I knew it! You're Pirate Hunter Zoro! Why the hell are you in here cleaning?!"

"Intel has it that you've teamed up with Monkey D. Luffy's crew!"

"You're under arrest!" One said as he started to pull the sword from its sheathe.

However Zoro was faster. Before the man could draw his swords he launched himself at the marines knocking both of them out with two swings of the broom.

"Well... now what?" Zoro said simply looking around.

Later some marines noticed the unconscious bodies and alerted the Sergeant Major. Tashigi noticed a note as well as a stack of money. Taking both she read the note which simply said..

"For your glasses..." she read aloud looking around for the man who had done this.

* * *

><p>Zoro could be seen walking down the street still looking for a sword smith.<p>

"Man, that freaked me out... Damn it! She looks way too much like Kuina!"

"Not to mention she's a swordsman, of all things... The world sure is a big place. But I doubt I'll ever see her again."

However he saw a shop that should have what he needed. It had weapons decorating the outside so he walked in to find a sleeping shopkeeper manning the store.

"I'd like some swords." Zoro said looking at the man.

The man woke with surprise but got over it quickly.

"Yes, yes! Welcome! Have a look at anything you'd like!" the man said wringing his hands together.

"Our shops been in business for over 200 years, you see!"

Zoro put the measly wad of cash he had been left with after leaving money for Tashigi.

"I got 100,000 Berries. Sell me two swords."

"Eh? Two swords for 100,000 Berries?" the man said surprised.

His excitement at having a customer quickly turned to annoyance. 'Damn, he has no money.' he thought to himself.

"50,000 a sword'll only get you some dill blades." The man said bored.

"I'll make do with whatever. I just don't got any money." Zoro said.

'You'll make do with whatever? Hmph! What an amateur!' The man thought to himself.

However he then spied the sword at Zoro's waist. 'That sword... could it be?!'

"O-Oh, h-h-hold on. L-L-Lemme see that sword of y-y-yours!" the man said shaking and sweating profusely.

"What're you all fidgety for?!" Zoro demanded.

"J-Just let me see it!" the man demanded.

"Weirdo." Zoro said but he handed his sword over.

He withdrew the sword from its sheathe a little bit to confirm his suspicions.

'T-This really is it!' the man thought shock visible in his features.

Trying to get himself to calm down he knew this was his chance. An amateur like this guy didn't even know what he had.

"Wow, that's not a bad sword!" the man said. What do you say? I'll buy this from you for 200,000 Berries." The man said grinning and sweating a little bit.

Zoro annoyed grabbed the sword from the salesman. "Not for sale." he glared at the man.

"Wait...Wait I'll raise the price how much do you want for it!" The man shouted he was desperate at this point.

"Not. For. Sale." Zoro repeated glaring at the salesman. "Now where are the swords for 50,000 Berries?"

"Hello!" Suddenly they were interrupted by Tashigi running into the shop. "Did you finish polishing my Shigure?" she asked.

Tashigi noticing the swordsman from before said to him "Thank goodness! You're all right!"

"Someone went on a rampage at the navy outpost earlier." She said looking concerned at him.

"You were gone too, so I was worried!"

Zoro was sweating at this point looking at the girl. He was thankful she hadn't made the connection though.

"But the fact that you're here safe and sound... means you actually scoffed at my kindness and ran off!"

She gave him back his money. "I can't accept money from someone who's heartless."

"Besides, I bought some new glasses!" Tashigi said putting them on.

She looked back at the man and noticed the sword in his hand.

"Is that sword the Wado Ichimonji!" she shouted with surprise.

She grabbed it from him inspecting it for herself. "It is the Wado Ichimonji!"

She drew the blade "What a beautiful straight temper line!" she said with amazement.

"I believe it's one of the 21 O-Wazamono swords!" She sheathed the sword as she handed it back. Withdrawing a small book she began looking for the right page.

"See! Look at this! It's worth no less than 10 million Berries!"

She looked surprised at the swordsman. "But what are you doing with such a legendary sword?"

The salesman was annoyed at this point. Although it seemed that he wasn't going to make a sale in the first place it was still annoying that the amateur now knew the value of his blade.

"It's true, that sword's so legendary it'd be a waste for a guy who doesn't know it's value to walk around with it."

"This sword means more to me then my own life." Zoro said staring the salesman down. "So don't tell me I don't know it's value."

The salesman began sweating again. He could feel the anger being leveled at him. "Alright! Alright! Look those barrels over there have swords worth 50,000 each. Just take two and leave!"

Tashigi was surprised to hear what Zoro had said. 'Why did that sword mean so much to him?' she thought to herself. She looked towards the salesman who was currently digging under the counter for her sword.

"Here." he handed Tashigi's Shigure to her. "Your swords polished." he said simply leveling her a glare.

Tashigi thanked him and walked over to the swordsman. "You must really like swords, carrying three of them around!" she said.

"That's almost like this one bounty hunter out there!" she said.

"Bounty hunter, huh?" Zoro said.

"He's famous! His name is Roronoa!" Tashigi said.

"I hear the name a lot." Zoro said cheekily.

"Yes. He's a famous swordsman all throughout the East Blue, but he's a notorious person!" she finished looking a little angry. "Using swords as bounty-hunting tools is unforgivable!"

"Why is evil so strong in this era? All the famous sword masters are pirates or bounty hunters... And almost all of the world's legendary swords are in their hands." she lamented.

"It's a real shame..." she finished.

Zoro was a little annoyed at this. He had seen evil among all kinds of people. Pirates, bounty hunters, normal people, and marines.

"You know not all pirates and bounty hunters are bad." Zoro said still rustling through the barrels looking for swords he liked.

"What?" Tashigi said surprised. "I have yet to meet one that couldn't be described as bad."

"Well I have." Zoro said simply. "One saved my life actually."

Tashigi was interested to hear what had happened. "How did that happen."

"I was on an island far away from here. It was mostly just a small town with a large marine base." Zoro started his story.

"I had just started to eat at the local tavern when a man and his pet wolf busted through the door. He let the wolf loose on people who simply cowered as the wolf tore through the restaurant."

Tashigi was astounded to hear this. Someone would dare do that with a marine base so close by?

"A little girl tried to stop the wolf from terrorizing the restaurant, but the man just laughed and had the wolf attack the girl."

"What happened to the girl?!" Tashigi asked.

"Well I killed the wolf before it could get her. But it turns out the man wasn't too pleased for me to do that."

"Well he should have expected it breaking the law like that! Did they call in the marines then?"

Zoro laughed "In a way they did."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well turns out the man who owned the wolf was the son of the Marine Captain in charge of the base. I don't remember the punks name something like "Hippo" or something, but Captain Morgan was the one in charge of the base."

Tashigi was surprised to hear this. Captain Morgan was a name she recognized. He had been arrested for corruption but this... this was an entirely new level of corrupt to her.

"So Hippo told me that he was going to bring down his father's wrath on the restaurant for killing his pet. But he offered me a deal."

"A deal?" Tashigi asked.

"Yeah. One month strung to a cross without food or water. And in return he wouldn't punish the girl."

"T-That's despicable! Using the marines to do something so... terrible!" she said angered.

"Yeah well I took the deal. I even made it a few weeks when out of nowhere this guy shows up."

"What guy?"

"Well his name was Monkey D. Luffy I found out later. He's a pirate in case you haven't heard of them."

"He's not just a pirate! He's one with a 50 Million Berry bounty on him! They say he's a real monster!" she said surprised. "What was he doing there?"

"Well I guess he was dropping off a kid that he saved from some pirates. The kid wanted to be a marine but had been kidnapped by pirates to be their cabin boy I guess."

"Oh." Tashigi said simply. That sounded like something the marines should do.

"Yeah... but anyway so this guy tells me that they're planning on executing me the next day."

"Wait what?! But what about the deal?" Tashigi asked. She really didn't like the sound of the marines that would abuse their power in such an evil way.

Zoro laughed solemnly "I guess he never intended to honor that deal."

"But to make matters worse the little girl got caught trying to feed me at one point. They tossed her over the wall when they caught her. But luckily Luffy caught her so she wasn't hurt. Later though Morgan found out that they had let her go and ordered her to be executed."

Zoro said that last part as he gripped one of the swords. He liked the feeling of this one.

"T-That monster! Executing a little girl?! Who would do such a thing."

Zoro looked at Tashigi. "A marine Captain." he said simply.

This caused Tashigi to flinch a little bit. She had to admit this story... damaged her pride as a marine more than a little.

"But anyway Luffy freed me when I found out that they were just going to execute me anyway. And in return I helped him fight Captain Morgan. He was defeated and the town was saved from that man. The marines even let... Luffy go on his way without trying to arrest him."

He pulled the sword he had found from the barrel. "Like I said. Not all pirates are bad, but not all marines are good either." he said saying the last part looking right at her.

"I owe my life to a wanted pirate. Does that make me a bad person?" Zoro finished.

Tashigi shook her head no. She... would have a lot to think about she realized. A good pirate? The idea almost seemed funny in her mind but after what she had heard...

But then she noticed the sword in his hands. She leafed through her book until she found the right page. "I thought so! Kitetsu III!"

"It's predecessor, the Kitetsu II, is an O-Wazamono sword, and the Kitetsu I before that is listed as a Top O-Wazamono sword!"

Zoro drew the sword looking at its blade.

"Mister! Is this sword really 50,000 Berries?!" Tashigi asked the salesman.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Incredible! It's a respectable Wazamono, you know! That one! You have to choose that one!" Tashigi said.

"It normally goes for one million Berries! You absolutely have to choose it!"

Over at the counter the salesman was nervously sweating. "N-No! I can't sell it!" the man shouted.

"Yeah! Selling this for 50,000 Berries is clearly strange!"

"No, that's not what I mean!"

Zoro had felt the ill intent coming from the sword the moment he had touched it. " A cursed sword, huh?"

"You knew?!" the salesman shouted in surprise.

"No. I can just tell." Zoro said simply.

"Starting with the very first one, all the Kitetsu have been superior swords, but every last one is cursed!" the salesman said. "Many famous master swordsmen have met tragic deaths after taking up Kitetsu swords."

"These days, there ain't a single person who uses a Kitetsu. Because you'll leave this world even if you use them unknowingly!"

"Even I wanna get rid of that thing... but I'm afraid it'll curse me..." the salesman said looking scared.

Tashigi looked to Zoro and bowed "I-I'm sorry! I had no idea it was such a terrifying sword!" she said apologizing. "I should've minded my own business!"

"I like it! I'll take it!" Zoro said grinning.

"A-Are you a fool?! I can't sell it!" the salesman shouted. "If you die because of it, then it'd be like I killed you myself!"

However his rant was stopped when his wife hit him over the head. "You're the fool! Just sell the stupid thing off!"

"Then let's do this." Zoro said looking at the sword.

"My luck, and this thing's curse... Let's see which one's stronger." He said as he calmly threw the sword in the air and held his arm out.

"You can't be serious!" Tashigi shouted watching the sword fly through the air.

"Stop! It's sharpness is the real deal! It'll take your whole arm off!" the salesman shouted at him.

Zoro just closed his eyes accepting any outcome that would come from this.

And the sword grazed his arm harmlessly with the back of the blade as it stuck itself in the ground. Digging it's way almost to the handle.

Zoro just grinned "I'll take it."

Everyone in the store was speechless. Tashigi and the salesman collapsed to the ground as they were shocked by the spectacle they had just witnessed.

Zoro bent down and made to pull the sword from the ground. "Hey, Could you choose me another one?" he looked to Tashigi.

"S-Sure..." she stuttered out.

"H-Hold it!" the salesman having gathered his wits shouted at the swordsman. He ran into the back of his shop as he went to retrieve something.

Zoro attached the cursed sword to his hip as the salesman went into the back.

Soon the salesman made his return with a wrapped bundle. Setting it on his counter he revealed a sword.

"The make is black lacquer... and the blade's temper pattern uneven!" He said as he drew it.

"The Ryo-Wazamono "Yubashiri"!" the man said.

"My shop may not be much but this is the finest sword I have!"

"I can't buy that." Zoro said simply no way he could afford such a blade.

"I already told you, I got no money."

"Forget the money. And I don't need any for the Kitetsu, either." the salesman said seriously.

"I'm sorry for trying to cheat you earlier. It's been a while since I've seen a good swordsman's eyes."

"They say the sword chooses the owner. I pray for your good fortune!" The man said smiling.

Zoro thanked the man and left his shop. Having fastened his third blade to his belt like the rest of them. He began heading towards the harbour again. He was happy he hadn't ended up needing to use the money that Nami had given him. Now he wouldn't be in debt to her.

Zoro was glad to have three swords again. It had been annoying to fight with borrowed swords back at Cocoyasi.

Tashigi was still kneeling where she had fallen before. "I was so frightened... that I still can't stand up..." she said looking after the swordsman as he walked into the distance.

She wished she had gotten the man's name now.

* * *

><p>Nojiko had convinced Sanji to make her lunch on the ship. So that's where they were headed. Nojiko had made her purchases and was done shopping. Soon they were back on deck of the ship, and Sanji began unloading the crates of food he had purchased.<p>

Soon after Sanji and Nojiko were enjoying a meal of their own on the ship. Although both realized that being alone on the ship presented... opportunities for other activities. And so Nojiko found herself dragging a giggling Sanji towards the men's quarters to show off her new purchases.

* * *

><p>Nami and Luffy now found themselves walking down main street again. Nami had promised Luffy some food so they began looking for a good restaurant.<p>

They soon found a good restaurant that had two flags flying out front. Sitting down they looked over the menus and talked about their plans for traveling the next few days.

Unknown to them a group of grey cloaked me walked in as well finding a place to sit across the restaurant.

"Damn...! That damn detestable Straw Hat!" one could be overheard muttering.

"To think that we can't find him despite looking all over for him like this..."

"But Captain, why in the hell do we have to wear cloaks like this?" The other cloaked member asked.

"Don't you know anything about being a pirate?!" the other shouted at him.

"There's an annoying Navy captain named Smoker in this town. If he finds us, my plan to get revenge on that Straw Hat will be ruined!"

However it was at this point that Buggy the Clown saw his target. From across the restaurant he saw that damn Straw Hat. The bastard was looking away from him but he knew that hat.

He began to laugh. All that hard searching for him and he finally had him unaware. He pulled out three of his daggers and held them together between his fingers creating a bladed fist. Detaching the hand he lined up the shot. A woman from the other table pointed at the floating hand and screamed.

He launched the hand forward watching as the Straw Hat bastard turn toward the scream. Buggy smiled this way he'd get to see the look on his face when he died. But he was surprised to see an orange haired girl instead. Who the hell was she?

* * *

><p>Kaya and Usopp were currently walking around town. Usopp had found some shopping of his own to do although Kaya had talked him down from buying a lot of junk from the toy shop. Although as they were shopping Kaya spotted some goggles that she thought would fit Usopp perfectly. After purchasing them she stuck them in her bag so she could surprise Usopp with them latter.<p>

As they continued walking they began to get hungry. It was then that they noticed a strange purple haired lion sitting outside a restaurant. They began to walk closer when suddenly smoke billowed out from the restaurant followed by people screaming as they ran outside.

Usopp told Kaya to stay back while he ran towards the restaurant intent to see what was going on.

* * *

><p>Luffy was currently holding the disembodied hand. He had saw it come flying at Nami daggers prepared to stab her in the back but he was faster.<p>

Buggy the Clown stood up to face his enemy. And Mohji quickly stood up as well looking behind him to see the man they had been hunting down.

Seeing the man before him and seeing the look in his eyes now made him remember why he didn't like his captains obsession to kill him.

Buggy felt his hand getting extremely cold as he shouted out in pain. What the hell was that bastard doing to his hand? Then he could suddenly no longer feel his hand as he watched that bastard shatter his hand.

"M-My Hand..." Buggy said in surprise. He had always been immune to things like blades so he thought he never had to worry about losing a limb. But he had never considering someone shattering his limb into a hundred pieces.

Luffy took the hat from Nami and put it back on his head.

"Nami how about you go find the others? I'll deal with Buggy." He said simply as his arms started to ooze magma. Smoke had begun billowing from his arms.

Nami nodded at her captain and followed the waves of people rushing to get outside the restaurant.

Luffy realized that this was probably the beginning of the end of their stay on Loguetown. Smoker would probably track him down from here and then it was only a matter of time before they had to leave the island. He was a little peeved that he had never made it to the execution platform but he guessed that would be alright since he had seen it once before.

At this point the restaurant had cleared out except for three men. Although one looked like he very much wanted to leave.

Luffy calmly walked over to the men. Smoke was filling the restaurant at this point as the magma poured faster from his arms. A helpful side effect of his powers he realized was that smoke didn't bother him as much as it would have before.

However the two men across from him were currently rubbing their eyes and coughing. How the hell were they going to face this guy if they couldn't even see properly.

Luffy froze the magma in place with an ice coating and with a shout of "Hie Magu no Ken!" launched himself at the two.

* * *

><p>Nami had ran outside the restaurant and found Kaya standing a ways out. She ran to her and caught her up on the situation.<p>

"Someone tried to stab you in the back?" Kaya said worried.

"Yeah I don't know who it was though both of the guys were wearing weird gray robes. Luffy's fighting them now."

Usopp had made it to one of the windows and tried to see what was going on inside. He put on his goggles so the smoke wouldn't hurt his eyes.

Usopp's eyes widened as he ducked as a fast moving object was thrown over his head. He saw the gray object fly and hit the lion sending both flying across the alley.

However another grey object came flying soon after the first one tumbling across the ground as it came to a stop. After staying completely still for a few moments Usopp braved another look inside.

He saw Luffy calmly walking towards the entrance. He realized it must have been his powers that was causing the smoke but who was he fighting with?

He looked back at the robed people that had been thrown through the window. Neither had moved since the incident and the lion was definitely knocked out.

As Luffy made it outside he headed towards where he saw Kaya and Nami. On the way he saw Usopp catch up with him as they asked him what happened in there.

"That was Buggy the Clown. I guess he wanted revenge on me or something from beating him before." Luffy said scratching his head.

He had hoped that maybe considering last time he had shown that they were no match for him this time they wouldn't try to fight him again. But obviously he was wrong.

However there was one bit of luck. There weren't many marines in the area yet and the ones who where there were more concerned with trying to put out the fire in the restaurant then to figure out what had happened. Maybe he could still go see the execution platform?

"Guys we should probably get heading out here soon before the marines get here. I still want to see the execution platform does anyone wanna go?" Luffy asked his crew.

Usopp and Kaya said that they wanted to head back to the ship and would wait for them there. Nami however thought it would be better to make sure her captain didn't get lost and decided to travel with Luffy.

So the four pirates split up and went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>A short while later Smoker entered the area. Looking around he could see his marines seemed to have the situation handled. The smoke was cleared from the restaurant and it was surprising to see very little damage had been done to the actual building.<p>

When his marines questioned some of the civilians they had said that some strange robed men had attacked another patron at the restaurant. One with a straw hat.

Smoker realized that the pirate had already landed like he suspected. He had his men arrest the one robed figure they had found. The other had apparently escaped on a lion as ridiculous as he thought that was.

When his men pulled back the covering on the remaining man Smoker realized who it was. Buggy the Clown had apparently attacked Straw Hat. It looked like Buggy wanted revenge for his previous defeat. He told his men to get sea stone cuffs on him because of the devil fruit he was known to use. Although as they shackled one hand they noticed he was missing his other hand.

"Tie him up as well then. The shackles will keep him weakened but he still needs to be restrained."

It looked like he might be bringing in a few high value pirates today.

Some of the people had saw the Straw Hat man leave with a woman in the direction of the town's main square. So that's where he began heading. On the way he ran into Tashigi who he had also been looking for. Tashigi had heard the commotion and had come just as he had but he ordered her with him since the situation was already handled.

"Were heading after Monkey D. Luffy he was spotted heading in this direction." Smoker said looking at second in command.

She nodded at this but said nothing. 'Monkey D. Luffy' she thought to herself. The man that was supposedly a good pirate that had saved that swordsman's life. She wasn't sure how she felt about this. For the first time in her career as a marine she actually hoped that they wouldn't find what they were looking for.

* * *

><p>Luffy and Nami soon found themselves at the town square. They could see towering above was the execution platform. As they got closer they noticed a familiar face sleeping in front of the tower.<p>

Zoro currently was resting with his back to the tower. Earlier he had tried finding his way back to the ship but had gotten lost along the way... so eventually he found a good spot to sleep for a little bit. Later he'd worry about trying to get back to the ship.

That was until he felt something knocking on his skull. "Yo Zoro!" he heard the annoying call of his captain.

Opening one eye he saw Luffy and Nami looking down on him. "Alright I'm up. What brings you guys here? I thought you were on a date or something..."

Nami annoyed hit him over the head. "We weren't on a date! Luffy wanted to see the execution platform so that's why we're here. What are you doing here?"

"Is that what this is?" Zoro said looking up at the platform. "Well I got the swords like I wanted, and I didn't even need to use the money that you gave me so here." Zoro said as he handed over the 100,000 that he had borrowed earlier.

Nami took the money and counted it out. "Alright looks like you were honest. Now you only owe me another 100,000." Nami said pocketing the cash.

"W-What?! But I didn't even use it?!" Zoro shouted at her.

"Yeah but you agreed to a very modest 100% interest rate and you're lucky it was only that!" Nami shouted back.

That's when it hit Zoro. He just had to talk to Luffy again he had a way with talking to her. Turning Luffy's way he began saying "Hey Luf-" but then he realized he was gone.

"Wait where'd Luffy go?" Zoro asked looking around.

Nami surprised as well looked around before she realized where he must have gone. Looking up her suspicions were confirmed.

Luffy was currently looking out from the top of the execution platform. He had forgotten how amazing the view had been.

"Hey you over there!" a call rang out from the courtyard. "Come down right away!" a marine could be seen shouting into a megaphone.

Luffy laughed at the man. "Why?!" he shouted back.

"That's a special execution platform under control of the World Government!" the marine shouted back.

Nami and Zoro were currently looking up at their captain. Hopefully he would come down soon they didn't really want to bring down the marines attention on them.

"Come down right now!" the marine shouted.

"Well, you don't have to be so strict, officer." Luffy shouted back to the man.

"If you don't come down, I'll just arrest you. I'm coming up now!" the marine shouted back annoyed at the kid.

However as he made to move to the platform something smashed into him knocking him out cold.

The civilians shouted in surprise at the person who had just knocked a marine out.

"Hmph! Now's not the time for small fries." the woman said.

"I've been looking for you, Luffy. Long time no see..." Alvida shouted up to her quarry.

"Oh hey Alvida!" Luffy shouted down waving at her.

The crowd now getting a good luck at the woman began praising her beauty.

'Who the hell is this lady?' Nami thought. 'And how does she know Luffy?'

"When your passionate fist hit me that time... Oh, it felt good..." Alvida said flushing while putting a hand to her face.

The crowd around her was struck at her beauty completely speechless.

"You guys... what's the most beautiful thing in the East Blue?" she asked the crowd smiling.

"That'd be you!" the crowd shouted all bending on one knee gesturing in her direction.

"That's right. It's me." She said smiling wider.

"There's no man in this world that doesn't bow before my beauty." She said gesturing to the crowd.

"And I like strong men." she said looking right at Luffy.

Luffy was sweating a little bit at this point. He had kinda forgotten how she seemed to be obsessed with him.

"I'll make you mine, Luffy." she said smiling at him.

"Who does this lady think she is?!" Nami muttered glaring at the woman.

Zoro just laughed "Oh? Are you mad you have competition for our captains affection?" he said mocking Nami.

"Shut up! She's no competition... I m-mean I'm not competing!" She shouted at Zoro.

He just laughed again but was quickly shut up when Nami threatened "If you don't stop laughing now I'll double your interest! And I'll keep increasing it till you'll be lucky if you can afford to feed yourself!" Nami shouted at him.

Zoro wisely shut up at this point and resumed listening to the strange woman.

"I have to say Luffy I'm a little surprised you recognized me... After all I did lose my freckles." Alvida said gesturing at her face.

"However I notice I'm not the only one who's changed since last we met. You seem to have grown even more handsome. I also like the bared chest look. It is a great improvement I must say..." she said running her eyes up and down his body.

Luffy wasn't really sure why but he felt like he should be a little embarrassed at what she was saying.

"Alright I've had enough of this!" Nami was rolling up her sleeves looking pissed off. Zoro was holding her back though keeping her from attacking the odd woman.

At this point a peal of thunder could be heard. Nami stopped what she was doing and looked to the sky. She cursed she hadn't been paying attention before, but now she could see that a huge storm was brewing. They were going to need to get out of here and fast.

"Luffy! Let's get out of here before this storm really hits!" Nami shouted to her captain.

"Eh?" Luffy said looking up. Sure enough he could see those same dark butts forming.

Luffy smiled looking back down over the crowd that was currently watching him.

He put one hand in the air and yelled "I'm the man who'll be King of the Pirates!" he yelled above the storms howling winds and bouts of thunder.

The crowd was stunned all eyes were on Luffy. Alvida herself was surprised at the declaration but smiled. After all she liked strong men, and the King of the Pirates would have to be the strongest.

However the marines had shown up just in time to hear the declaration.

Smoker himself looked at the man and couldn't help but see Roger when he looked at him.

"That kid..." Smoker began. But he didn't finish the thought. This was going to be interesting he realized.

"Men who can't let any of those pirates escape! Form a perimeter. Let the civilians pass but keep those pirates contained." Smoker shouted to his men.

Marines began flooding from the connecting alley ways forming a circle around the town's center. Civilians began dispersing as they were let past the marines.

Eventually there were only four left standing in the center.

Alvida was near the fountain while the other three pirates were at the execution platform.

Tashigi who was looking through her binoculars was surprised to see the man she had seen earlier standing at the platform. 'That man... was he part of the Straw Hat pirates?' Then it hit her, the subordinates who had been knocked out at the base later said that they were attacked by Roronoa Zoro. Roronoa Zoro was now a pirate... who owed his life to Monkey D. Luffy she realized.

Luffy was surprised to see that it was only the four of them left in the center. It seems that since Buggy was out of commission the rest of his men hadn't been gathered together.

He jumped off the platform landing next to Nami. He picked her up and held her in his arms. She shouted in surprise at this.

"Time to go guys." He said simply. Looking to Zoro he asked "Can you keep up?"

Zoro merely laughed and as his captain took off running he followed close behind.

As they passed Alvida, she followed after them. No way was she going to let her man escape her sights so easily.

As they got closer to the marines they began to open fire. Alvida had no problem with this as all of the bullets merely slid off of her but Luffy had to dodge because of Nami. Zoro had drawn two of his blades and was deflecting the bullets away from himself.

Luffy and Zoro leaped over the line of surprised Marines as they tried firing at them in midair. Alvida merely slid through the marines most being too stunned at the beautiful woman to attack and others who tried to grab her failed to do so as their hands slipped.

As Smoker watched the pirates get past his men he ordered them to grab his bike. He wasn't going to get past him without a fight. Tashigi had apparently already left as she was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

><p>The Straw Hats made their mad dash to the Going Merry as Marines could be seen chasing after them. Luffy still holding Nami as she clung to him desperately. Up ahead a lone woman could be seen standing sword drawn.<p>

They slowed as they approached the woman. Zoro noticed that it was Tashigi the woman he had met earlier.

"You're Roronoa Zoro." Tashigi said looking at Zoro.

"Yup." Zoro said simply holding his two drawn swords to his side.

"A-As a marine I can't let you pass." Tashigi said sounding unsure of herself.

"I know." Zoro said. He looked to the others and gave them a look saying all he needed to say.

Luffy nodded and continued running along Alvida following close behind.

As they passed the two swordsman began fighting swords clashing over the sound of the storm. Although both realized the other wasn't putting their full heart into the fight.

Eventually Zoro got the upper hand knocking the sword from her grip. As it clattered to the ground Tashigi looked into Zoro's eyes.

They were supposedly the eyes of a demon. But she had to disagree as she looked into them.

The other marines had showed up just in time to see their superior get disarmed. Tashigi nodded to Zoro in the direction of the harbor and Zoro getting the message took off after his crew.

Tashigi shouted after him though "Next time Zoro! Next time you won't escape from me!"

Zoro laughed taking one last look at Tashigi "I count on it!" he said as he turned back running after his nakama.

Tashigi smiled. Maybe all pirates weren't so bad after all. She picked up her sword and followed after Zoro.

* * *

><p>"Stop right there." Smoker said as the three pirates approached him.<p>

Luffy and Alvida stopped in their tracks as they saw Smoker standing in front of his bike blocking their passage. Luffy set down Nami and she stood next to him.

"You can't enter the Grand Line unless you beat me first." Smoker said glaring at Luffy.

Luffy said to Nami "Go on ahead Nami I'll meet you at the ship."

Nami nodded as she ran to the side of the alley. Smoker ignored her, his eyes on Luffy.

Luffy looked to Alvida. "Uh so what are you doing?" he asked.

"Well it seems I'm stuck here." she said. "Buggy's crew left this island after they saw their captain get arrested. The cowards took off and left me here."

"Hmm..." Luffy thought this over. "Well I guess you can get a ride on my ship for now..." Luffy said trailing off.

Alvida smiled at him and leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Why thank you Luffy! See ya there!" she laughed as she ran on ahead.

Luffy flushed a little bit. 'What's up with that lady?' he thought to himself.

Now it was just Luffy and Smoker standing alone in the street. They stared each other down neither making a move.

Luffy broke the silence as he said "I'll beat you, and enter the Grand Line."

"Enough of this." Smoker said. He turned his fist into smoke as he launched it towards Luffy.

Luffy jumped as it got closer giving a spin-kick while using armament haki to smash his foot into the fist that reformed once it was hit.

Smoker retracted the hand rubbing his injured hand. That bastard actually managed to hit him. 'This kid can use haki?' he thought to himself.

It was at this point Zoro caught up to his captain. He slowed down a bit when he saw Smoker but figured his captain had this handled as he ran past the two.

Luffy didn't really want to continue this fight much more than he already had. Luffy launched an attack of his own spewing lava from his fists towards Smoker. Smoker dodged the attack launching himself into the air as Luffy's attack flew past him.

Hitting it's real target and melting down his bike to a pile of molten slag. "That bastard!" He destroyed his bike!

Luffy laughed up at Smoker "See you on the Grand Line!" he said cheekily as Luffy disappeared in a cold mist.

Tashigi and the other marines ran into Smoker as they ran towards the harbor. The marines stopped when they saw their captain standing still.

Tashigi asked "Captain where did they go?"

"To the Grand Line." Smoker growled out. That pirate... he was stronger then he looked.

"Were going after them! Ready a ship." Smoker ordered his men.

"B-But, Captain! This island is in your jurisdiction. I don't know what the higher-ups would say..."

"Tell them I said, "Don't give me orders."" Smoker said staring the marine down.

"I'll come with you!" Tashigi said gripping her sword. She promised that man they'd fight again. And she intended to follow through on it.

Unknown to the marines a man in a green robe was watching over them. Dragon was surprised at the strength his son had. He had come to see his son off for the Grand Line. He was surprised to see Luffy had actually gotten one over on Smoker. He smiled looking in the direction his son had headed. He was a man now. He didn't need his help it seemed.

* * *

><p>Nami had just arrived at the Going Merry. Usopp and Kaya had arrived a while ago after they split from the restaurant and Nojiko and Sanji were still there as well.<p>

Nami started ordering the crew to get prepared to sail when an odd guest appeared on their ship.

Alvida could be seen standing on the deck of their ship looking at the Straw Hats.

"What are you doing here!" Nami shouted over the sound of the storm.

"Your captain invited me aboard of course. My heartless companions abandoned me to this island and now I'm all alone." she said sarcastically feigning real sadness.

Most of the Straw Hats shrugged at this. It seemed like something there captain would do inviting total strangers on their ship.

Nami looked at the woman. "Fine but we need to prepare to leave this island! You're going to help."

Alvida nodded and helped the crew prepare.

Zoro soon came aboard as well. Now they were only waiting on their captain.

Although they didn't have to wait long as Luffy appeared in a sudden flash of ice. A thin layer of ice covered a small portion of the deck where he had appeared. Everyone was stunned at his appearance but they soon got back to work.

Pulling up the anchor they unfurled the sails as they began to leave the harbor. Luffy sat on the figurehead laughing into the storm. This is where the real adventure begins he thought to himself.

And so the Straw Hats escaped the clutches of the marines at Loguetown and were ready to take on the Grand Line next... However far away people with great power in this world turned their eyes to the small group.

* * *

><p>At Marineford a meeting was taking place...<p>

Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Admiral Aokiji and Akainu as well as Vice Admiral Garp were currently sitting in a underground meeting room.

Sengoku looking towards Garp began speaking. "We have been getting disturbing reports of a new pirate group in the east blue."

"Oh?" Garp said. He had a feeling he knew what this was about, but outwardly he showed no change.

"Yes a pirate with the moniker Straw Hat Luffy has begun making some waves in East Blue. Although with his current heading it's likely his destination is the Grand Line."

Garp nodded at this but said nothing more. 'There has to be some other reason for this meeting... or else the two admiral would not be here as well.'

"However even more disturbing is the boy's power. He has a devil fruit power that is very worrisome."

"Really?" Garp said. He knew about his grandson's rubber powers but wasn't sure why they'd be so concerning.

"Why are we really here Sengoku? This meeting seems like a waste of time worrying about some low life pirate. And why's Garp here? What's he got to do with this?" Akainu said as he leveled a glare at the vice admiral.

"The reason I called the meeting with the three of you is because Straw Hat Luffy's full name is Monkey D. Luffy... Garp's grandson." Sengoku said looking again to Garp.

Aokiji and Akainu were surprised to hear this looking to Garp. They hadn't even known he had a kid let alone a grandson.

"... and the reason I called you two here is because this boy has displayed usage of both of your Devil Fruits."

And all three were surprised to hear this. Garp especially. 'Different Devil Fruit powers?'

"Are you saying he controls both ice and magma?" Aokiji asked simply.

"That's what the reports are saying. Right now I have a team watching his progress and his strength is surprising." Sengoku said passing some reports to the others.

"It seems he's taken down a lot of pirate crews." Aokiji said looking towards Garp.

"I may have failed to make my grandson a marine but that doesn't mean I created a monster. He's a good kid even if he's a moron." Garp said looking at one of the reports discussing his powers.

Sengoku looking seriously at Garp said "Did you know anything about the boy's powers?"

"No. This is new to me." Garp said. What had happened to his old powers?

"This pirate is dangerous." Akainu said. "We can't let him get out of East Blue."

"I would normally agree with you." Aokiji replied. "However considering the circumstances I think it might be in our best interests to simply watch him for now."

Sengoku looking towards his two admirals looked towards his old friend. "And what do you think Garp?"

"Like I said he may be a pirate but he's still a good kid. I think considering what he's done so far it seems he's doing our job better then the marines in the area." Garp said. He really hadn't liked how this meeting had turned out. Akainu had all but said they should kill or imprison his grandson.

'Why couldn't you have just been a marine?' he thought to himself. Probably too much of his father in him...

"I agree. I'll keep the tail on him for the foreseeable future. But Garp." Sengoku looked seriously at Garp. "If he becomes too much of a problem to handle... You know what must be done. For now we have assigned him a bounty of 50 million berries. We can't be seen letting this pirate off easily."

"...I understand Fleet Admiral." Garp said looking down.

"However, I will send out an order to stop anyone from attempting to bring him in. We have one marine captain in pursuit of him currently. Captain Smoker ran into him in Loguetown and has been pursuing him since. I think it would be wisest to have him keep an eye on him without interfering until further orders."

"Alright this meeting is adjourned." Sengoku said dismissing his admirals and Garp.

Akainu didn't like the fact that they were letting the kid run around. However he wasn't going to go against the Fleet Admiral.

"Who the hell are you Monkey D. Luffy?" He asked himself.

* * *

><p>AN: Alright guys this one was my longest chapter yet. Hopefully you guys enjoyed reading it.<p>

- Hie Magu no Ken = Chilly Mag Fists.

I used that move before but I know if I read that I would have no clue what it meant normally. But I have used it before so I didn't really want to put the translation in parentheses next to it. Although in the future would people rather I translate every move?

Also Alvida at this point is not part of the crew. I figured I'd point that out. The Buggy pirates ran away after Smoker successfully arrested their captain. And Alvida only joined them so she could find Luffy so she wasn't going to run away.

But now I've put the poll up for Alvida whether she joins or not. When I first had it up people voted 4 to 2 in favor of it although this one I was initially planning on vetoing. But I found that I actually enjoyed writing her in this chapter so I decided to put the poll back up. So we will see what happens with that.

Also earlier I mentioned that Usopp used his goggles to block the smoke from his eyes I am talking about his old pair of goggles here. I didn't want anyone calling me out since Kaya still supposedly has the new goggles in her possession.

And more on that I decided to omit Daddy the Parent and Carmen from this chapter. I felt Daddy was mostly there as motivation for Usopp which I feel Kaya's presence in my story does that more so then Daddy would. Also his daughter looks creepy like a porcelain doll so I didn't feel so bad taking them out of the story. And Carmen I was iffy on but I figured in the end it wouldn't really add anything more to the story then what was already established. Sanji wants to find All Blue. When he was a kid it was his dream and no matter what other people said he still believed in his dream. I think that was fairly well established at this point. Also Carmen's got some weirdo assistants that I didn't feel like writing about either.

But anyway... So we've also heard from Shanks crew as well as high level marines who all seem to have increased interest in Luffy. What will this mean for the future? Who knows... well except me... sorta.

Uh next chapter I'm right now deciding between writing the filler story or just moving on to reverse mountain. You will find out my decision next chapter.

Also someone asked whether I would be doing filler / movies and I figured I'd let everyone know my plans for that. Fillers I will do if I feel like writing them. If I'm just going to rewriting cannon with minor differences I would probably choose to skip rather then doing it. But that also depends on how much I like it in the first place. I've already skipped a little bit of filler but nothing major so far.

Now on to movies. I realized afterwards I already have skipped one of the movies. And technically the second one is right after Loguetown but before reverse mountain. I don't really feel like delaying getting to the Grand Line more then I already have so I'm going to skip that one too. But after this I decided I won't skip the movies.

Besides I will also have more nakama to write at that point as well considering I know Choppers definitely in the next one. Although I haven't seen that movie apparantly there was some confusion with it since neither Vivi nor Robin is in it despite that being somewhat impossible. Vivi left and Robin joined right after so that shouldn't have happened. So when I watch the movie I'll decide what I want to do. I will either write in Vivi if I feel like it would be good pre-Alabasta or Robin if it's post-Alabasta.

Then it could also technically be both if I decide to have Vivi join the crew after Alabasta. But I will have a vote on that later and I will also have to decide whether I like that idea in the first place.

Anyway I think that's all I wanted to say. Hopefully you guys liked the newest chapter and as always feel free to pm or review if you have questions or concerns. Or if you just like the story... I like reading those too.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

><p>The Going Merry and its crew were currently heading towards Reverse Mountain. Luffy was currently training by himself at the prow of the ship. He was using Zoro's weights that he had let him borrow in return for talking down his debt to Nami.<p>

Besides Rayleigh's training he had never actually gone out of the way to train. He figured a little extra strength would never hurt.

Luffy wasn't really paying attention to this but he had somewhat of an audience. Alvida was currently unashamedly ogling the captain of the Straw Hats. She wasn't really sure how or why but the man in front of her looked a lot different than the one that had punched her off her own ship all those months ago. But she didn't really care why he changed she was happy just enjoying the results.

Luffy had forgone a shirt when he had decided to train with a little encouragement from herself. After all he wouldn't want to get the shirt sweaty would he? She laughed to herself sipping on a drink Sanji had provided as she watched Luffy's muscles ripple under the strain of his training, it would have been a real shame to get that shirt sweaty.

Nami was currently glaring at Alvida. She didn't like how she had been eye-fucking her captain since day one on their ship. Although she had to admit, she had kept silent when she told Luffy he should train without a shirt. She had been trying to read while enjoying the sun, but she found herself getting distracted.

Nojiko was holding a purple fruit smoothie that Sanji had made special for her. She had to laugh at her sister antics. She had been on the same page for the past half hour and was making no progress. She seemed to spend a lot more time watching their captain and glaring at their guest then reading at the moment.

Luffy decided that was enough training for the day. "Good work today captain!" Alvida winked at him. He nodded at her, although he still didn't feel all that comfortable around her. She was always... staring at him for some reason. He nodded to Nami and then Nojiko as he walked by. Nojiko took a long drink from her purple smoothie before she began coughing.

"Sanji this drink is disgusting!" she shouted to the cook. She had drank about half of it before the rank taste of the drink flooded her taste buds.

"It must have been that fruit you gave me. Were did you get it anyway? I told you that you shouldn't eat strange fruit." Sanji called back to her.

Luffy stopped in his tracks. Wait he thought to himself. Purple, nasty tasting, strange fruit? It couldn't be...

Luffy turned to Nojiko "What strange fruit?"

Nojiko crossed her arms and pouted. "Well... it might have been the one you kept in that chest under your bed... I thought it was weird you kept a fruit in your room but I thought it might taste good... So I asked Sanji to make it into a drink for me. If I had known it was nasty tasting I never would have taken it."

Luffy just stared at her. Nojiko getting annoyed asked "What?"

Luffy burst out laughing, then continued walking by Nojiko.

"What are you laughing for?!" Nojiko called after him. "What was that fruit?!"

Luffy headed inside the men's quarters he wiped off the sweat he had accumulated and then threw on his unbuttoned shirt. He began thinking back to his time with Shank. How he had eaten the fruit right out from Shank's nose without a clue what he was eating. He pulled out the chest from under his bed and sure enough it was empty. He tossed it back on the bed, and headed back outside.

Nojiko was currently dumping the other half of the drink in the ocean. She handed the glass back to Sanji who took it to clean it out. Seeing Luffy coming back she asked him "What was so funny earlier? Why were you keeping that fruit?"

"That was a devil fruit you ate! You're a rubber girl now" Luffy said chuckling.

"What?!" Nojiko asked looking worried.

"Here watch this! Give me your hand!" Luffy said to Nojiko. At this point a lot of the crew was watching interested. Nojiko complied and Luffy took her hand. Luffy then took off towards the other side of the ship.

Nojiko expecting to be dragged was both surprised and terrified to see her arm stretch in front of her. It felt incredibly weird having her arm just stretch as Luffy pulled it behind him.

The rest of the crew was surprised to see it as well although Zoro was the only one to recognize the power for what it was. He had seen Luffy using this power when he had saved him from Captain Morgan.

Luffy let go of her arm is at whipped back and returned to its normal size.

Nojiko looked at her hand with a sense of wonder. Flexing her hand she realized that while she still felt exactly the same, everything had changed for her.

"Well cool!" She said excitedly. She honestly had been worrying about how she would contribute to the crew so this just made it easier for her. "Thanks for the devil fruit captain!" she said laughing as she went towards the kitchen. She was still thirsty so she figured she could show off her new powers to Sanji.

At this point Kaya remembered the devil fruit she had herself. Searching through her bag she pulled it out.

"So what do you think you're going to do with it?" Usopp asked her.

"I think I'm going to eat it... but I'll ask Luffy about it first since he seems to be more knowledgeable about devil fruits then any of us." Kaya said. Usopp nodded at this it made sense to him. So Kaya made her way over to the captain who was currently looking over the side of the ship.

"Luffy?" Kaya said tentatively.

Luffy turning saw Kaya he was about to ask her what she needed before he noticed the fruit in her hands. "Woah! Is that a devil fruit?" Luffy asked surprised.

"Uh yeah I got it back at Loguetown... I was hoping that you could help me decide what to do with it." Kaya asked.

"Hmm..." Luffy picked up the fruit and examined it. He had definitely never seen a fruit like this before. A white and blue, pear shaped devil fruit? He had no clue what it could possibly do. "Did the person who give it to you tell you anything about it?"

"Not really they were given it a long time ago. The only thing they knew about it was that it would be useful for a doctor..." Kaya said.

"Hmm..." Luffy said handing the fruit back to Kaya. "Well my opinion is... do whatever you think is best!" he said giving her a thumbs up and a smile. Then he headed to the figurehead so he could rest for a little while.

Kaya just looked at her captain in surprise. 'No help there...' she thought to herself. But she knew that she wanted desperately to be helpful to her companions. But what if this devil fruit didn't do anything useful?

Looking to Usopp she steeled herself. She was going to have to risk it she thought. So before she could talk herself out of it she took as big a bite out of the fruit as she could, wincing as she gagged at the bad taste. She swallowed the chunk of fruit then began to eat the rest of it as well. Luffy noticing this said to her "You don't have to eat the whole thing you know..."

Kaya quickly spit out the rest of the fruit into the ocean. "Why does it have to be so gross?!" she asked.

"Who knows Luffy said. At least you don't have to eat all of it though." he watched her to see if anything out of the ordinary happened.

Kaya was thinking the same thing. Although after a while she realized that she didn't feel any different. "What if it wasn't a devil fruit..." she said.

"Eh..." Luffy began "I've never seen another fruit look like that, that wasn't a devil fruit." Luffy said. "Though sometimes it can be hard to know what will happen. I wouldn't worry about it too much." Luffy said as he turned back to the figurehead and pulled himself on top.

She looked to Usopp who merely shrugged. Usopp told her he was going to go and make some more ammo for his slingshot and Kaya decided to follow along.

Alvida was currently sunbathing and had watched the events silently. Two new devil fruit users on their ship? It seemed like sailing with this crew would defiantly be interesting. She looked at the only man who had ever bested her. She wondered what he was thinking about at this moment but she had no way of knowing. So she simply sat back and continued to rest, looking forward to whatever might come their way next.

Nami was back to consulting their sea charts. It seemed like they had to head to Reverse Mountain and then ride a stream up to its peak. But that made no sense water flowing up a mountain? How was that even possible. But they still had another couple days before they were close so she could ask Luffy about it before they got there.

Sanji noticed Nojiko as she walked into the kitchen. But was even more surprised when she used her arm to wrap around him and pull him towards her.

"What the hell?!" he said looking to Nojiko.

She laughed. "Well lover boy looks like you fed me a devil fruit." she said. Right now she had one of her arms wrapped around Sanji restraining him. "But boy do these powers give me all sorts of... fun ideas." she whispered the last part to Sanji.

Sanji got over his surprise oddly quick. Blood began to dribble out his nose as he giggled perversely. He would look forward to whatever she had planned. He always did.

* * *

><p>Luffy was currently thinking on the figurehead. Two new crewmembers and both had devil fruit now. One he knew extensively and would be able to train her to use it more effectively. The other... well he had no real clue what hers could possibly do. Hopefully it would be something useful to Kaya that would outweigh the cons of being a devil fruit user.<p>

And then they had their other guest on the ship. Alvida. He had never really gotten to know her all that well last time. The few times he had seen her she seemed to want him for some reason. That had never really been clear. He remembered back to her 'I'll make you mine.' comment and wondered what she had meant by that.

He realized that he was starting to feel those same weird feeling that he got in his gut sometimes when he was with Nami, only now they happened with Alvida as well. What did that mean? He had assumed that was because he might love Nami more than a Nakama, but why would he feel similar with Alvida? He didn't even know her all that well.

He realized he also felt something odd when Alvida stared at him sometimes. He had thought it was creepy but at the same time it felt... good? But a kind of good he wasn't used to...

He was tempted to ask Nami, but she usually got really embarrassed when he talked about it before. And she had said that love was something he was going to need to figure out for himself. So he decided to just let it be for now. He hoped that in time he would learn what all this meant to him.

For now he had to worry about the adventures that were yet to come. He smiled as he thought of Vivi they would meet again soon and then they'd find Chopper again. Then finally Robin, he thought with a smile. Then eventually Franky and Brook would be a part of his crew once again. But he realized that, that wouldn't be for a long time.

He shook his head. No time to worry about that. First he had to reunite with his nakama. He also had to make sure that he was strong enough to protect them. He thought about what Nami had said before, how that they all had to be strong so that he didn't always have to protect them. He knew that was true, but there were some monsters out there that he needed to be able to take down on his own.

Haki training was going surprisingly well. He hadn't done it since Loguetown yet but so far his crew seemed to be picking up on it. It had taken him a long time before he had been able to even use it at will let alone master it. He hoped that what they had learned so far would help in the fights to come.

He thought about the changes that had occurred this time around. Although he thought about the less obvious ones. What would come of his increased bounty? Also he was wondering about his crew. Only two members of his crew knew the truth about him, and they only knew the most important pieces. Should the rest of them know? What about the ones that had never come with them before? How would they take knowing that they had never come along.

Having traveled with them for the past few weeks he found it surprising that he had sailed without them. Usopp and Kaya got along great he realized. Usopp seemed to actually step up and be brave without anyone needing to force him to do so. It seemed he wanted to be strong for Kaya. Maybe he just wanted to be the hero in all of those stories he used to tell Kaya.

Then there was Nojiko. Nojiko was a lot of fun to be around as well. She seemed to enjoy embarrassing her sister sometimes which he thought was funny as well. She also seemed to have surprisingly enough gotten a handle on Sanji. He wasn't really sure why but Sanji no longer flew off the handle every time he saw a pretty lady. With the four girls on his ship now he figured Sanji would have died of blood loss at this point but he actually acted very polite when it came to the other girls.

Was that because he was having sex with Nojiko he wondered? He still didn't know what that was, but it was the only major difference with Sanji he could think of.

And also what was going to happen with Alvida? No matter what weird feelings she brought up in him. She was someone who had once been an enemy. He forgave a lot of people's pasts when they joined his crew. He didn't really mind for the most part as long as he believed they were good people. But Alvida had kidnapped his friend and held him hostage for years... No way Coby was going to forgive something like that. Plus it was his goal to arrest her one day and if she was on his crew...

Shrugging he decided that it was time to take a nap. Thinking about this stuff for too long strained his brain.

He laid down on the sheep head and began to rest.

-PAGE BREAK-

Later that day Sanji called them all for dinner. Luffy waking up from his spot jumped down onto the deck of his ship. Rushing to dinner he sat down at the table waiting for the others. Sanji finished setting the table while the others settled in.

After everyone settled down and started to eat the crew began conversing about what was to come.

"So how exactly do we actually get to the Grand Line?" Nojiko asked her sister.

"Well supposedly from what I've learned so far is that there are currents that take you straight up reverse mountain. Then there is one that brings you down and you'll be spit out on one end of the Grand Line." Nami said.

"Reverse mountain is at the meeting point for all four seas. So all four currents meet at the top then there is a fifth one that travels down to the Grand Line."

"Wait... your saying that a river can actually go up a mountain?" Zoro asked.

"Uh... supposedly but I guess we'll find out for ourselves wont we?" Nami said.

Luffy laughed "Sounds like fun eh?"

Some of the crew laughed at this. Leave it to their captain to be excited at the prospect of incredible danger.

"Is that were we are headed now? Or is there another stop between here and there?" Kaya asked.

"No... there's no islands on the way. Although their might be a small town at the base of Reverse Mountain. The map isn't that accurate honestly..." Nami said looking at one of the charts she had purchased.

After this the crew started to finish their meal. Sanji began pulling plates to begin washing dishes. Luffy however remembered about the two new devil fruit's on his team.

"So Kaya have you had any luck with your devil fruit yet?"

"Uh... none so far... Is that a bad thing?" Kaya asked nervously.

"Nah sometimes the powers aren't something obvious. You would probably have felt something if it was a logia by now. I've always been able to feel both the magma and ice sides of my powers within me. But paramecia and zoan types aren't always as obvious." Luffy told Kaya. Looking to Nojiko he asked "Are you getting a better hold of your powers so far?"

"I've learned some... interesting new moves I guess." she said sending a wink Sanji's way that cause him to have a small nose bleed.

"Oh really? Like what?" Luffy asked looking interested.

Nami having seen the suspicious look that her sister had interrupted. "We don't need to know."

"Ah sis why do you have to spoil my fun?" Nojiko joked sticking her tongue out at her sister.

And so their dinner continued. The Straw Hat's joked with each other and they enjoyed the meal Sanji had prepared for them. Luffy however, was still annoyed that despite his best efforts he could still couldn't eat the massive amounts of food as he once did.

* * *

><p>Luffy could be seen sitting in his favorite spot. He was currently watching the sunset dip below the horizon.<p>

"Awfully romantic isn't it?"

Turning around Luffy saw Alvida looking at him.

"Uh I guess?" Luffy didn't really see the big deal. It was just the sun setting. Happened every day.

"So Luffy I figured if we're going to be together. We should get to know each other better, right?" Alvida said suggestively. She had sauntered up to him and was currently rubbing his arm.

He shrugged her arm off though, he thought it was weird that she was touching him. "Look Alvida." Luffy said seriously. "I let you on my ship because I don't like leaving people to the mercy of the Marines."

"However, that doesn't make us nakama." Luffy looked at Alvida.

Alvida was surprised. Not only had he rebuffed her advances he pretty much only saved her because he felt bad. "W-Why?" was all she could stutter out.

"You kidnapped and abused a person I've come to see as nakama. For all I know you don't even remember him." Luffy said seriously.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. What nakama of his had she done that to?

"Coby." Luffy stated looking straight into her eyes.

"Wait my old cabin boy? What's the point? He was a weakling, not at all like you." Alvida said confused.

"No Coby is strong. One day he's going to become a great Marine. And he promised me one day that he would arrest you."

"What arrest me?"

"Yes. He's made it his goal to one day arrest you for what you put him through. And I won't stop a nakama from reaching his goal for someone who isn't one." Luffy said simply looking back at the horizon as the last rays dipped below the water.

"When we get to the next major port town, we will part ways. We'll leave you with enough money and supplies to get you by for a while, but then you're on your own."

Alvida stunned merely looked at Luffy's back. She turned and slowly made her way back to the cabins. As she entered she found Nami listening in at the door.

She glared at the girl before angrily brushing by her.

Nami felt a little bad listening in. Although it seemed Luffy had some pretty serious reasons for what he said she couldn't help but feel bad for the woman. After all if Luffy had said something like that to her... it would crush her.

She walked outside. Luffy was still looking to the horizon silently staring into the distance. If he noticed her he didn't show it.

She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. He stiffened at first, but noticing who it was he relaxed.

"How are you doing Luffy?"

At first Luffy kept silent, but after a short moment of collecting his thoughts he answered "I've never told someone I wanted them off my ship before. At least no one I've invited on in the first place."

Nami continued rubbing his shoulder affectionately. "It's alright Luffy."

Luffy hopped off his perch. It was time to go to sleep. Nami pulled him into a tight hug surprising him. He hugged her back as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Luffy knew that he would do anything to protect her. Holding her tight he knew that he wasn't going to let anyone tear his crew from him again. But why did hugging her feel so good to him? He enjoyed being close to her.

Was this love?

They both pulled away and they headed back towards the cabin. They each murmured their goodbyes as they went to their separate sleeping arrangements.

Luffy pulled himself into his cot and looked at the wooded ceiling of the ship. Love was a mystery feeling.

Nami was having similar thoughts in the woman's quarters next door. Why did she feel this way for her captain. It was obvious that Luffy had no relationship with her in his past. She felt like Luffy wouldn't be so oblivious if they had. So why did she feel this way if the other her didn't? Although she had to admit, her feelings would be a lot more confusing if he did have a previous relationship with her.

She hoped that one day Luffy would figure out his feelings. She only hoped that when that happened she knew herself what her feelings where.

* * *

><p>The next day was to be there last in East Blue. The crew enjoyed smooth sailing as they relaxed in each other's company.<p>

However one was noticeably absent. Alvida hadn't felt like being with the rest of the Straw Hats. Currently she was by herself looking off the railing of the stern of the ship. She was currently reflecting on her life.

Growing up one thing had been obvious to her. The strong were meant to rule, and the strong could do what they wanted. She hadn't had the easiest time growing up.

She knew all along that she was once someone who people saw as incredibly ugly. She had never had the looks most men desired.

People had always treated her poorly from a young age. Other girls had always made fun of her, both to her face and behind her back they laughed at her, and men weren't any better.

But she had shown them. She had grown strong on her own. No one dared laugh at Iron Mace Alvida. It didn't matter what you looked like when you could crush any who spoke out against you

After she had become a pirate she had never had people comment negatively on her looks. Her crew constantly called her beautiful, although they knew that if they didn't she would have cracked their skulls with the very mace that had earned her the epithet "Iron Mace".

She was strong and she had gotten used to taking what she wanted. She thought she had the beauty that people had always made fun of her for lacking. She had all the money she could have wanted and had the power to get more if she wanted.

That was until that fateful day. The day she met the man who had been the only one with the strength to knock her down.

After that she had found the Sube Sube no Mi, which had given her the beauty she had always craved. She no longer had to threaten people into calling her beautiful. People who had no clue who she was had no problem declaring her the most beautiful woman in the world.

She thought she had found a man that was actually worth her attention. After all a man stronger then her was surely going to have it all one day, and he had declared to all that he was going to be the next Pirate King. It only made sense he had a strong, beautiful woman like her.

But she had been surprised that he apparently wanted nothing to do with her. The only reason she was where she was now and not god knows where, was because he had taken pity on her.

Because despite being an extremely strong man, he was also an incredibly kind one she had come to realize. Seeing him with his crew she realized that none sailed with him because he was the strongest. He had affected them each in their own lives and made them want to travel with him, because they each had their own dreams and goals to follow. And because they wanted to help Luffy accomplish his own.

She had never had a dream, beyond being beautiful. But if beauty and strength didn't always get you what you wanted then what was the point?

Alvida began to realize that even with all the beauty that she had always wanted, she is still ugly on the inside. And Luffy saw that, because of the way she had treated people. People like Colby someone so weak she had never really even needed to threaten him.

Coby had always done what she wanted because he had seen her anger against the others. But Luffy had been the man to actually make Coby stand up for himself. He had called her ugly before Luffy had defeated her. She realized that maybe she was still ugly.

* * *

><p>The rest of the crew unaware of the plight of their guest went about their own day. The day drawled on and eventually the Straw Hats found themselves gathering for dinner. Although Alvida never joined them despite their attempts to get her to come to dinner.<p>

Luffy couldn't help but feel guilty for that. He had only said what he meant, but he still felt bad about it. That didn't change his mind though. As far as he knew she was still a pretty bad person. Not Arlong or Don Krieg bad maybe, but she wasn't above hurting innocent people.

Nami gave a sideways glance to Luffy a few times through the meal but didn't say anything about how he was being unusually quiet. After she finished eating she excused herself as she left the rest of her crew.

She began looking around the ship for Alvida, and soon she found the woman at the stern of the ship.

Alvida noticing her unexpected guess asked "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry that I listened in last night."

Alvida showed little reaction to her apology. "Oh? I didn't expect an apology."

"Look. You feel bad about what Luffy said don't you?"

"What's it to you?" Alvida said with a small frown showing.

"Well...I don't know why I'm saying this... but if you really feel bad and want to keep sailing with us... Then you'll just have to show Luffy that you can change." Nami said seriously. She wasn't sure why she was consoling the older woman, but she felt like it was the right thing to do.

"And what if I don't want to change?" Alvida said looking back at Nami.

"Then don't." She replied simply.

Alvida turned back to face the ocean again, watching the wake of the ship fade into the distance. She didn't reply and Nami left her alone.

Nami left Alvida to her thoughts and went back to the woman's quarters. Laying on her cot she looked up at the ceiling. Tomorrow was the day that they would reach Reverse Mountain. And it would be there last time in East Blue for a very long time.

She would miss her home but she was excited to see where they would go next. Growing up under Arlong's rule had been terrible. She had never felt more alone then the moment that old tattoo was placed on her arm.

But now she had new friends, a new crew surprisingly enough. She had become a pirate something she had always thought she hated. But Luffy had shown her how great a pirate could be. It wasn't about being a fearsome crew of blood thirsty monsters like she had always thought. It was about the freedom and the friends you made along the way.

And when Nojiko had made the choice to come a long it had surprised her but she was glad she had. She would have seriously missed her sister had she left he back at Cocoyasi. Added to the fact that they had their own small grove of tangerines to tend on the Going Merry, made it seem like sometimes their mother was still watching out for them.

She was happy and free, and she owed it all to one man...

* * *

><p>Usopp and Kaya were currently on deck watching the waves lap against their ship. They were both extremely happy to be where they were.<p>

Usopp was sailing off to be a great warrior of the sea just like his father had. And because of the woman next to him he felt like every day he was a step closer to that goal. At first he had been worried when Kaya had said she wanted to go. After all she had never left her house really when he had first gotten to know her. She had always seemed so frail. Although now he could see that even though she was the same Kaya that she was back in Syrup village she was also so much more.

She helped him to realize what real bravery means. Growing up he had always though bravery was never having any fear. Facing whatever daunting challenges came your way with a smile. But that wasn't what bravery was.

He still got scared when he was faced with danger. But Kaya had helped him to find the strength to face his fears even though he wanted to run. He had slowly begun to realize that real bravery was to fight back even when you're scared out of your mind.

Turning to Kaya he thought about how much he cared about her. If she had never come he would have missed her terribly he realized. He then thought about his dad and his mother. He wondered how his dad felt when he had chose to leave behind the woman he loved and his only son.

Kaya seeing Usopp looking at her, smiled and Usopp smiled back. She was glad that she had chose to come a long with Usopp on what was sure to be his greatest adventure. Now it would be their adventure she realized. She could only hope however that whatever devil fruit ability she had gotten would help her to protect Usopp and the rest of the crew.

She then thought about how she had come to make the decision to come along. How Kuro had pretended to be her butler and friend for three years... only to try and kill her for her inheritance. But when it came time to enact his plan, when he had attacked her only nakama. She had made the decision to pull the trigger on that pistol and end Kuro instead.

That decision was something that used to weigh heavily on her mind. She had actually killed someone. But she had come to realize that while she would do anything to avoid being put in the same situation again, she still thought that her decision was the right thing to do.

She only hoped however that now instead of fighting to protect her nakama she could now keep them from harm's way and heal them when she couldn't.

Gathering some courage she stood up on her toes and gave Usopp a quick kiss on the cheek and said her goodnight. She then headed back to the woman's quarters with a blush quickly spreading across her face.

Usopp was stunned although with a grin he got over that quickly, and he headed back to the men's quarters himself.

* * *

><p>Soon the Straw Hats and their guest found themselves staring up at the massive mountain in front of them. They had finally arrived at Reverse Mountain.<p>

They were amazed to see that the current did indeed shoot straight up the face of the mountain. Archways decorated the steep climb up the mountain.

They then realized that they were picking up some serious speed and where heading straight for the entrance.

"EVERYONE GRAB A HOLD OF SOMETHING!" Luffy shouted while the rest grabbed hold of anything they could. And the crew soon found themselves rocketing up Reverse Mountain. They could only watch as the arch's passed overhead at incredible speeds.

Everyone was holding steady gripping the railings for dear life. And soon they were at the top sailing through the air for a short while before the ship crashed down and was launched back down the mountain.

The crew was silent all save Luffy who was currently laughing excitedly. The rest were tense as they waiting for the intense ride to be over, and hopefully not because the ship gets crashed against the rocks.

As they rode the current down the mountain they noticed an intense fog seemed to block their view of the base of the mountain. However a strange giant mass could be seen poking through the fog. Then they began to hear an extremely loud low tone wail.

The Straw Hats as they sped down the mountain began to panic. The fog had cleared at this point and they could see the giant object for what it was. It was a giant whale, and the scariest part was the fact that it's giant maw was currently open facing the exit of the downstream. Likely it was fishing in the laziest fashion possible collecting all the fish that accidentally got themselves caught in the current that took them from their home sea to the whales awaiting stomach.

The whale didn't even seem to be aware of the boat that was currently sailing straight into its mouth.

Luffy began to laugh, his crew however was still panicking. Some had tried to steer the ship away from the giant whale but to no avail as the current kept them on their course. Soon enough they found themselves sailing straight past the whales teeth and into the belly of the beast.

Darkness overtook them all as the whale shut its mouth. Laboon had fed enough this time and was now going to continue its fight against the impassible mountain. He submerged himself and began swimming away from the mountain, preparing to use himself as a battering ram.

The Straw Hats much to the surprise of the crew minus their captain were still alive. They found themselves on a strange greenish sea with the bright blue sky and butts overhead. Further ahead they could see a small island with a cottage on it.

"Are we dreaming?" Kaya asked dumbfounded.

"Or are we dead?" Zoro replied.

"Weren't we just swallowed by a whale?" Nami asked.

"Then we are dead." Zoro said simply.

But before they could give much more thought to their surroundings a giant squid rose from the green sea. It looked down on the small boat as it readied itself to smash the boat to pieces.

But Luffy looking up at the giant creature gave it a look that made it realize that it wasn't the top predator here. It almost began to run away when suddenly three harpoons flew from the now open doorway of the cottage impaling the poor squid.

The squid collapsed backwards revealing the three rope lines leading to the cottage where an old man walked outside to see the pirate ship. He stared at the ship for a few seconds, then began to draw his catch in.

"Wait was he fishing or did he try and save us?" Usopp asked.

No one answered and soon they found themselves having a tense standoff with the strange old man.

However it came to an end when the old man sat down in a lawn chair and began lazily reading a newspaper.

"SAY SOMETHING!" Sanji yelled at the stranger.

The old man simply looked over his newspaper at the pirates. This continued for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Hey old man. Would you mind just telling us just who you are, and just where this place is?" Zoro asked the old man pulling a fuming Sanji away.

"It's common courtesy to introduce yourself before asking others questions, you know?" the old man replied.

"Oh right... sorry about that." Zoro said back.

But as Zoro opened his mouth to answer the man's question the guy interrupting, answered Zoro's question.

"My name is Crocus, the lighthouse keeper of Twin Capes. i'm 71 years old, a Gemini, and type AB blood."

Zoro getting pissed off attempted to draw his sword as Sanji tried to pull him back. "Nobody minds if I kill him right?!" Zoro shouted back.

"You're wondering where this place is? You first trespass in my private resort and then start mouthing off with that attitude!?" Crocus shouted at the Straw Hats. "Does this place look like the stomach of a mouse!?"

That's when the reality sunk in with the Straw Hats.

"We really did sail straight into a whales mouth then..." Alvida said speaking up.

Nami was surprisingly not all that worried. Luffy seemed happy enough so she hopped that meant nothing serious was going on.

"If it's an exit you want, it's right over there." Crocus said pointing at a massive doorway on what appeared to be the horizon.

"Why is there an exit inside a whale's stomach?" Sanji said in surprise.

That's when they noticed that the sky was nothing more than a painting.

"Why did you paint the inside of a whale's stomach?" Zoro asked Crocus.

"That's just my way of having a good time." Crocus said turning back to his newspaper.

But then their entire small world was shaken as a resounding boom echoed through the whales stomach. This sent waves in the stomach acid as the ship and the supposed island crashed up and down on the waves.

"So he's started again has he..." Crocus said standing up.

When the Straw Hats saw the island bobbing up and down they realized that it was actually a ship with an iron hull.

That's when they realized that their ship was currently sitting in a writhing sea of acid.

"Hey! What's going on here?!" Usopp shouted to Crocus.

Crocus turning to the Straw Hats stated "This whale, has started bashing his head against the Red Line again!"

Luffy looked down grimly. He remembered the pain that Laboon was going through. Losing his nakama.

The other crew members began remembering the intense scaring that was on the whales forehead.

"That whale is suffering..." Nami said sadly.

Then the old man did something completely unexpected. He dove into the green sea and swam towards the exit. The Straw Hats realizing that this might be their time to leave began to row the ship towards the massive door.

As they neared the door they noticed two people step outside of the smaller door on the small platform. Not seeing the old man who was currently in the sea, they noticed the small ship that was sailing their way. Looking to each other they took aim at the walls of the massive whales stomach.

Luffy noticing Vivi and Mr. Wednesday's appearance disappeared off the deck of the Going Merry leaving any icy vapor in his place. The other crew were surprised but turned back to the duo, they knew what there captain was likely up to.

However the two who had come with the plan to kill the whale were surprised to see a man appear from thin air in front of them. They weren't given any time to react however as Luffy swiftly smacked their heads together. He felt a little bad hurting Vivi but she was trying to kill Laboon...

Crocus had just started to climb the ladder at this point. He was surprised to see the kid beat him to those brat's who kept trying to kill Laboon. But he was grateful that the boy had helped saved Laboon. He continued his climb up the ladder and walked past the three. He had to subdue Laboon before he really hurt himself again.

While Crocus was attending to Laboon, Luffy waited for his ship to pull closer. When they did he jumped down on deck with the two unconscious intruders under his arms.

They tied them up not knowing what else to do with them. However soon Crocus came back and he hoped on their ship telling them to go back to his island.

Crocus began to explain how Laboon was an Island Whale and why the two people were trying to kill Laboon.

"Their goal is to hunt Laboon, because the meat from Laboon can feed their town for 2 to 3 years." Crocus said. "But I won't allow that!"

He then explained how Laboon had been following a group of pirates that he had seen as his pod members. And how those pirates had been forced to leave him behind because the Grand Line was likely to be too dangerous for a baby whale. Then he told them about the promise the pirates had made to return back for Laboon. But then he dropped the bomb shell.

"It's been over 50 years since then..."

Luffy felt bad for the poor whale. He knew that halfway across the world right now Brook was sailing aimlessly all alone, and how much he wanted to come back and see Laboon. He thought to himself how in his old future Brook would never be making his return trip to finally reunite with his old nakama.

He promised himself that Laboon was going to see his nakama again one day.

* * *

><p>AN: So sorry about the long time between updates. I started a new job several days ago and it's been a rough transition. It's kind of thrown off my sleep schedule and I'm just now getting settled with my new schedule.<p>

However I don't have day off planned within the next week so I can't promise what time the next chapter will be out. I can promise however that I will find the time to at least write a thousand words a day. I'll try to do more but I can't promise that.

While I do enjoy writing this story it isn't a relaxing sort of enjoyment so getting home from a long day of work only to try and work on this story can be a little tiring at times. So sorry in advance that I won't be able to update as frequently.

Also this chapter is on the smaller side of what I'd like it to be but I figured you guys deserved to get something after a week.

Anyway onto the actual story so we saw a lot of introspection this chapter. I wanted to give you insight into some of the changes to the crew and how it has affected them. I realized that I have been kind of just putting a lot of the characters in the background without giving any real clue as to what they were thinking or how they felt about the things happening. So I'll be trying to make a point of doing this from now on. We haven't heard much yet from Zoro, Sanji or Nojiko but I promise you will.

Also I put a new Poll up. It has to do with whether or not you guys think that any of the original Straw Hat's should have a devil fruit. Obviously the only ones this could apply to are Franky, Nami, Usopp and Zoro. Zoro is probably the only one that I am strictly against giving a devil fruit to. I feel like while it could potentially make him more powerful it would really take away from his character and his dream to become the worlds greatest swordsmen. After all if he did have one I think he would feel like it was cheating the next time he faced down with Mihawk.

Franky is another one I feel weird giving one to. I mean he is a cyborg that can do all sorts of cool stuff that normal people can't, so really what's the point there? Unless I or someone else thought of something that would just go perfectly with him I can't see it happening.

And Nami and Usopp I kind of feel the same way. If there was a really good idea for a devil fruit that just seemed perfect for them then great I might consider giving them one. But really I can't give everyone a devil fruit obviously or else the Straw Hat's will just be completely at the mercy of the sea. If one goes in the water and no one can save them that would blow.

Anyway the poll isn't whether or not I will put devil fruits in. It's only to gauge your guy's thoughts on the matter. If I get a lot of votes for yes then I will later have a poll for which Straw Hats you feel deserve one. Again not because I will but only to gauge interest. I voted no in all honesty, but I still want to hear your guys input on the matter.

Also hopefully no one is too pissed off at the idea of me giving the fruit to Nojiko. Once I had the idea of someone sneakily eating the fruit under Luffy's nose just like he did all those years ago I couldn't resist. Also you might wonder when and how Nojiko found it... well lets just say Nojiko and Sanji enjoy spending time in the men's quarters. They did after all spend some time last chapter there. Also I feel like this might actually be a genuine surprise to everyone considering I gave no previous insight that I might do this so... I guess I'll hear what you guys think lol

Also Alvida's poll was like 30 to like less then ten in favor of her joining in case people wanted to know. So she will be joining. However there will have to be a bit of character development before she officially joins in my opinion. Hopefully you guys don't feel like was too rough on her or something this chapter.

This may seem random but what does everyone think of Luffy's new logia powers vs enel? I've been doing a little research to just see how lightning would pair against magma and ice. Ice is pretty much an insulator from what the limited research I've done into this. And the only things I could find with magma was intensely long research papers which I had very little interest in reading through. But molten rock just from a quick guess seems like it wouldn't conduct electricity.

But anyway it is my opinion that Luffy while he won't be immune to his lightning, he might actually still be resistant against it... not that I'm saying Luffy is no longer a match for Enel or anything. I mean he beat him as an untrained pirate pre-timeskip he sure as hell can beat him now, especially with his use of haki now.

But anyway really my point was whether or not we think Luffy would be basically unaffected by lightning. That's really what I want to know. I am happy to hear peoples opinion on the matter but if anyone out there can give me a more definitive answer I would really appreciate it.

Also another random question I had. What do people think about Laboon following the Straw Hats? I can definitely think of a few times like Skypeia where they'd part ways for a while but he is no longer a baby whale... He might actually be useful at times. Although he would also unfortunately be a huge target as well. But then again he could just dive under water if he was in any danger and the Straw Hats would certainly protect him. Anyway I'm not saying next chapter you'll see Laboon join but I don't think it's something I've seen done before and It might actually be interesting. I'd be interested to hear what people think.

Anyway sorry again about the wait, but I'll try to make sure you guys don't wait to long for the next one. And once again if you have any questions or concerns feel free to pm or review.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

><p>Luffy and the Straw Hats were currently talking with Crocus at his lighthouse. The Straw Hats had learned the full sad story of Laboon. About how he was waiting for nakama that were never going to show. But Luffy knew different he would bring Brook back here one day. He had failed to do so before but he wouldn't do so again.<p>

After little deliberation the Straw Hats had decided to let their two prisoners go. Tossing them overboard they watched as the strange pair swam away. Luffy watched Vivi go. It seemed strange to see her act this way again when he had seen her as who she truly was. He didn't like the fact that she had tried to kill Laboon but he supposed that he had a hard time faulting her when she was faced with the situation back home.

Laboon was starting to stir from his drug induced slumber now. Luffy watched as the giant whale opened its eyes again. It looked at the mountain before it and simply stared at its enemy. Luffy decided to speak to the whale.

"HEY LABOON!" he shouted. Luffy watched as the one visible eye turned in his direction. "I PROMISE TO BRING BACK WHATEVER NAKAMA YOU HAVE LEFT!"

"I WILL RETURN HERE ONE DAY! AND YOU WILL SEE YOUR NAKAMA ONCE AGAIN!"

Laboon stared at the strange pirate. The whale then surprisingly began to tear up a little.

Luffy painted his Jolly Roger as a sign of his promise. He told Laboon that one day he would return after sailing the Grand Line. And on that day he would also bring the remaining crew of Laboon's nakama.

Crocus let out a rare smile as he looked at the pirate. There was a kindness to him that was rare in most people. Laboon let out a small wail at that in agreement.

"So don't you bash your head against the wall and make it disappear, by the time we come back, you hear!?" Luffy shouted at Laboon.

Laboon let out a louder wail in agreement this time.

"Good!" Luffy shouted back.

The crew was already preparing to sail of to their next destination now. Nami was starting to chart out their next destination, and Usopp was trying to make small repairs to the Going Merry.

Kaya talked to Crocus about becoming a doctor. He was happy to give her the medical texts he had collected over his many years. After all it had been a while since he had actually read any of them. He had long ago memorized the contents of his many books.

Luffy then pulled out of his pocket that log pose he had taken from Mr. Nine. He gave it to Nami as he told her it would help getting to their next destination. He explained the Log Pose as best he could.

"So it will point to the next destination as long as we've stayed a long enough time at the current island? Which varies from island to island right?" Nami said surprised.

"That's basically it." Luffy confirmed. Crocus talked to the Straw Hat navigator going into more detail the specifics of the log pose.

Nami was astounded to hear of this. She strapped the strange device to her wrist as she watched it point in the direction of the next island. Looking at her compass she confirmed that it would indeed be of no use here on the Grand Line. It sounded like the Grand Line was a dangerous place, but she knew that if she were to accomplish her dream and Luffy's that it was the only way to do so.

However it was at this point that Mr. Nine and Miss Wednesday returned. They told their story on how they needed to reach Whiskey Peak and about their lost ship. Unfortunately their main reasons for asking for help from the pirates that they had lost their weapons as well. Otherwise they would have taken back the log pose and the pirates ship by force.

They were currently bowing before Nami. Crocus told the Straw Hats not to trust them but Luffy disagreed.

"OK. You can come along if you want." He said to the groveling duo.

They stopped bowing to Nami and switched to Luffy bowing at his feet thanking him for his kindness.

The Straw Hats boarded their ship as they prepared to set off. They said their goodbyes to Crocus who tried one last time to dissuade them from sailing to Whiskey Peak with the ruffians. But Luffy was adamant. He wanted to go this way.

Mr. Nine and Miss Wednesday currently were laughing behind the captains back at his foolishness.

And as the Straw Hats sailed away Laboon gave a loud wail towards his newest nakama saying his own goodbye.

Luffy laughing shouted to the whale "BYE! WE'RE GOING NOW, LABOON!"

Laboon let out a loud bellow and watched as the Straw Hats left. Crocus just watched as the crew set sail. He could only hope that Luffy hadn't promised too much to the whale. He wasn't sure what would happen if they never came back. And that promise of his to bring back Laboon's nakama... that would surely come back to bite him.

Although he thought to himself, that if anyone could follow through on that promise he felt like it could be that crew.

* * *

><p>The journey to Whiskey Peak was not an easy one. They faced a variety of different weathers and storms on their way. Nami had learned just what it meant to sail on this sea. Not being able to trust really anything but the log pose.<p>

However they had managed to make it. In the distance they could see great cactuses raising into the sky towering above the small bits of land. The Going Merry had a rough time so far on the Grand Line but it had pulled through in the end. Due mostly to Usopp's many repairs that he had done on their journey.

The ship pulled closer and closer to the island. The visibility was greatly reduced however due to the fact that a thick fog was currently blanketing the island.

"So this is Whiskey Peak?" Zoro asked looking at the island.

"Guess so." Luffy responded.

"Seems like it should have been named after cactuses considering what this island looks like." Alvida said looking at the towering plants.

"Well then, we'll be leaving now."

Turning the Straw Hats were surprised to see Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday standing on the railing of the ship.

"Thanks for taking us home, honeys." Miss Wednesday told the Straw Hats.

"If we're linked by fate, we'll meet again!" Mr. 9 followed up with.

"Bye bye, baby!" The strange pair shouted in unison as they leapt off the ship. They then began swimming towards the island.

"Huh?" Usopp said "Who on earth were they?"

"Who cares?" Alvida said.

The other Straw Hats seemed to agree with this sentiment as they watched as they pulled into the river that bisected the island. The river was surprisingly wide for such a small island. It was almost more like two different islands then one land mass.

They couldn't really see the shore all that well because of the fog, but hopefully there was a town upriver that they could stock up at. Their stocks from Loguetown were only about half what they were before so it would be good to restock.

However the crew began noticing people standing on the shores. The Straw Hats put their hands on their weapons. It looked ominous the way they were being stared at so they wanted to be ready for anything.

Then the fog began to lift as massive crowds of people were revealed. The crowds were cheering for the pirates and looked like they had prepared a party for the incoming pirates.

Luffy, Sanji and Zoro were all standing on one side of the ship. Before them was a massive crowd of women shouting to the three.

"Ahh! There looking this way! They're so handsome!" The women shouted and waved to the three men.

"Whoa! There're lot's of cute girls!" Sanji shouted excitedly leaning over the railing. However his excitement was short lived when suddenly he found himself being dragged away by his ear.

"What the hell..." but Sanji didn't finish his statement seeing who was dragging him. Nojiko had a look that spoke of untold pain to come. Sanji wisely decided to shut up and go willingly with Nojiko.

Luffy was standing there waving to the women. But he too found himself dragged away by Nami.

"Nami? What are you doing?" Luffy asked confused.

"Tcch... like I'm going to let those slags anywhere near you..." Nami said under her breath.

This left Zoro the only one to appreciate the women's cat calls. He however was uninterested and decided it was time to sleep. Laying down on the deck he quickly dozed off much to the crowds annoyance.

"Nami what's going on?" Luffy asked again not really getting an answer the first time.

"Uh..." Nami began but she wasn't sure she wanted to explain. "Look Luffy, Sanji made me a dessert earlier that I didn't want. Do you-"

Luffy was successfully distracted from whatever his previous questions had been as he quickly began devouring the dessert. "Mmmm... Thanks a lot Nami!" Luffy said wrapping his other arm around his navigator as he ate from the plate in Nami's hand.

"Uh..." Nami began to turn a little red. She wasn't sure how it had turned to this but she wasn't going to complain. "Don't worry about it Luffy... It's my pleasure." she finished turning to a full out blush.

Luffy noticing Nami's face was currently a bright red grew concerned for his navigator. "Hey Nami are you sick?" he asked. He realized both his hands were full so he put his forehead to hers to try and check her temperature.

Nami began to splutter unintelligibly at this. She wasn't sure how to respond. Her captain had his arm around her and his face was so close. She found herself wondering what it would be like to kiss him... When Kaya interrupted.

"Wait Nami's sick?!" she asked worriedly. Luffy pulled his face away from Nami as Kaya headed their way.

"Looks like it." Luffy said. "Her face is all red and she feels hot."

Nami a mix of embarrassment and anger tried to explain herself. "I'm not sick! I just got too much sun is all."

"Oh is that all?" Luffy said as his worry lessened. "Here this should help." Luffy said putting his straw hat on her head.

Nami pulled the hat more snuggly on her head. "...Thanks Luffy." she said.

"No problem!" Luffy said as he continued to eat the food Nami had given him.

Kaya realized that maybe she had interrupted something she shouldn't have so she walked back to where Usopp was watching the crowd that was cheering on the pirates. Although Kaya, Usopp and Alvida seemed to be the only one interested in greeting the crowd as the rest of the crew was busy elsewhere.

Alvida could be seen at the prow of the ship basking in the crowd's praise.

Calls of "So beautiful!" were heard from the crowds on either side of the ship. Young and old, women and men were all stunned at the woman's beauty. And they made sure she knew it.

Nojiko and Sanji were currently nowhere to be found on deck. Zoro was asleep, Luffy was happily munching on food as Nami stuck close by his side.

However they were soon directed to a dock where they could tie off their ship.

As the crew gathered to around the railing of the ship Sanji and Nojiko emerged from the women's quarters. They joined the others that were looking down at the crowd. Zoro was still asleep but the others were looking at the crowd with interest.

Sanji was particularly disheveled looking. His tie was loose and his suit had a few tears in the seams. His hair was a wild mess and there was even flecks of dried blood on the front of his shirt. He was even missing one of his shoes. Despite his appearance his face was plastered with a perverted grin that refused to go away.

Nojiko however looked as she usually did not a hair out of place. She was currently smiling and it had an oddly proud air about it.

"Welc-" one of the townspeople began, but then he started to cough. "Ma-ma-ma... Welcome."

"My name is Igarappoi. I'm the mayor of Whiskey Peak." the man introduced himself.

"Okay. I'm Luffy. Nice to meet you."

"Whiskey Peak is a town that thrives on making liquor and music." Igarappoi continued.

Zoro opened his eyes at that. 'Liquor?' he thought to himself. He joined the rest of his crew on deck and began to listen to the strange looking man.

"Hospitality is the pride of our town. As for our proud liquor, it's as bountiful as the seawater."

At this point the Straw Hats decided to come ashore. The town seemed to have a genuine like for pirates.

"Would you allow us to throw a party for you so that we may hear your tales of..." and again Igarappoi coughed. "Ma-ma-ma... your tales of adventure?" he finished.

"We'll be glad to!" Luffy, Sanji and Usopp shouted in unison.

Zoro and Nami were holding back looking at their Nakama.

"The idiot trio..." Nami said simply.

"Now, everyone! Prepare for the party! Sing to entertain the adventurers!" Igarappoi shouted to the people of his village, and the villagers cheered as they prepared to set up a party.

* * *

><p>Later that night the party was going strong. People were drinking and eating in excess, and laughing to their hearts content.<p>

Usopp was telling tales of his and Kaya's adventures as people listened in. Kaya merely listened in fascinated by how he could spin a story.

Alvida was currently basking in the attention that many men and women were giving her for her beauty. She thought to herself that eating that devil fruit was likely the second best thing that's ever happened to her.

Nami who was still wearing Luffy's hat, had dragged both Luffy and Zoro into a drinking contest. Luffy hadn't been that hard to convince but she had threatened Zoro with his debt to make sure he participated. Although he had wanted to drink in the first place. He just didn't want to be told to drink. Nojiko joined not wanting to be outdone by her sister and Sanji joined in as well to be with Nojiko.

Nami and Nojiko were tied as they drank their 12th cup. Luffy was still going strong at 11 drinks and Zoro had stopped on his 10th drink and went to sleep. Sanji had gotten a little loopy after the 9th drink and had fallen asleep nuzzling Nojiko's breasts in his perverted sleep.

Igarappoi laughed as he saw the Straw Hats enjoying themselves. "What a festi-, Ahem!, Ma-ma-maa, Festive night this is! Your enjoyment means the world to us!"

* * *

><p>Later that night the party was still going strong. Nami and a nun were the only two left in the drinking contest both being tied at 15 drinks. Luffy had stopped drinking after 14 and Nojiko had passed out at 13. She and Sanji were currently curled up on one of the couches together sleeping off the booze.<p>

Although finally as she attempted to drink her 16th drink the nun passed out. Nami after draining her last passed out as well. At this point all the Straw Hats were seemingly asleep and Baroque works members started to gather.

Luffy and Zoro however where both awake ready to take on whatever this village was planning on throwing at them. Nami was awake as well but that was only because she didn't trust the villagers.

* * *

><p>Outside Igarappoi or Mr. 8 was currently meeting with Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday.<p>

Miss Wednesday asked "Have you taken care of those pirates?"

"They've fallen deeply... to hell that is..." Mr. 8 responded.

At this point Miss Monday left the bar and regrouped with the others. She took off her nun disguise as she asked "Is there really even a need to stage this whole welcome party in the first place? I mean they're only a bunch of weak looking brats!"

"Now, now I've done my homework about this crew." Mr. 8 said as he dug around in his jacket for the new bounties they had acquired.

He pulled them out to reveal two bounties. One was of Luffy with his 50 million berry bounty and the other was of Zoro who due to his previous reputation and his new association with the Straw Hats had gotten himself a 8 million berry bounty.

The other three were stunned to see this. That crew between only two of its members had nearly a 60 million bounty. Maybe they were more dangerous than they had first thought, especially they captain who makes up most of the bounty.

Plus Roronoa Zoro was a name they had all heard even from the Grand Line. Which is impressive for a bounty hunter in East Blue. But they had never heard the name Monkey D. Luffy before. They wondered what he could have done to have gotten such a high bounty in the East Blue.

"To judge a pirate's strength from his appearance alone is quite foolish Miss Monday." Mr. 8 said.

Miss Monday apologized for her assumption.

"Now go confiscate any money or treasures on their ship and tie them all up!" Mr. 8 demanded.

Suddenly a laugh was heard from over head. The four Baroque members looked for the source before they were surprised to see the two pirates that they had just been discussing standing on the roof of the bar.

"If you think were scary, wait till Nami hears that you were messing with her treasure!" Luffy laughed down to the surprised group.

"Tcch... I wouldn't even mess with that devil woman when money's involved." Zoro said seriously. "So why don't you let our crew sleep for a bit longer, they're all tired from the journey over here."

At this point a few members of the village burst out from the bar. "Mr. 8! Miss Monday! Two of their crew has escaped!"

"Weren't you two passed out cold after all that drinking just a moment ago?!" Mr. 8 said annoyed.

Luffy laughed again. "We both quit early. We didn't trust you lot so we figured we'd only drink a little bit."

"So that's what this place is then... This place is a den of bounty hunters, and you take advantage of the overconfident newbie pirates who've just entered the Grand Line!" Zoro smirked.

"I get the feeling that with only a hundred of you this won't be much of a mach with the two of us... Baroque Works." Zoro said looking down at the group of bounty hunters that had formed.

The bounty hunters below gasped in surprise. "How do you know the name of our organization?!" Mr. 9 shouted in surprise.

"Back when I was in the same line of business as you, a certain organization tried to scout me but I refused of course." Zoro said resting his hand on the Wado Ichimonji.

"Wait really Zoro?! That's so cool!" Luffy shouted in surprise. Then he laughed and grinned down at the Baroque agents below. "Now he's one of my nakama and first mate!"

Mr. 8 grimaced at this. "If they know our secret we have no choice but to eliminate them..." he started to say. Then he pointed his subordinates at the duo with a shout of "KILL THEM!"

But suddenly a loud bellow could be heard. Everyone in the area gripped their ears. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SOUND!?" Miss Monday shouted.

Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday remembered that noise. They covered their ears and looked to the ocean, and an explosion rocked the water as a massive black object launched itself from below the surface.

The rest of the bounty hunters looked up in fear to see a gigantic black whale bearing down on them flying at them with impressive speed. The members screamed and shouted as they ran to escape the monster.

Some managed to escape but many did not, with the monster crashing into the ground it sent tremors and debris flying everywhere. This sent many bounty hunters flying as they were launched from the impact. Those who escaped unharmed continued running. Whatever monster had just attacked was not worth the money.

The rest were either too scared or too injured to runaway as they watched the giant pull back into the ocean.

"Was that a whale..." a few could be heard saying in shock.

Luffy and Zoro who were still on the roof stared in surprise as well. Laboon had just appeared out of nowhere and taken down most of the Baroque works members.

The top four agents had escaped with only minor injuries but they were wary of another attack.

Luffy laughed out loud. Laboon had come after them it seemed, and when their lives had been threatened Laboon had attacked.

He looked out to sea as he saw Laboon floating watching the remaining bounty hunters. Luffy saw that the attack had wiped off most of the paint unfortunately, but he supposed it didn't really matter all that much.

"Laboon!" Luffy shouted in excitement. The whale looked at his nakama and let out a wail of greeting. The whale almost smiled happily as he saw his nakama safe.

However much to the four remaining agents terror, two more people stepped onto the field.

"Are you idiots just playing around?" one started to say. "A hundred agents down and they were all brought down by a wild animal."

The other figure laughed "Give them a break, you can't expect them to be as capable as we are."

"Mr. 5! Miss Valentine!" the four agents shouted in surprise.

Mr. 9 started to speak "With you two backing us up those pirates stand no chance!"

Mr. 5 grimaced at that. "Stop joking around." he said glaring at Mr. 9.

"You think we're your back-ups? You honestly believe that we'd be ordered to come all the way out here at the edge of the Grand Line, just to help you fight off some pirates?" at that Mr. 5 began to laugh.

"Then what business have you come here for...?" Mr. 9 said confused.

"Surely you must have some hunches... a crime severe enough that the boss would personally dispatch us all the way out here... The boss' direct words were, "My secret has been found out." Of course we have no idea what that secret may be but..."

At this Luffy raised his hand "Oh! I do! I do!" he said excitedly.

Mr. 5 looked up at the annoyance. "What are you blathering on about?!"

"I know your bosses secret!" Luffy shouted.

The six agents gave a start at that. Miss Wednesday was surprised to hear that. Was that who they were coming for then? She was almost sure her cover was blown but maybe...

"Tcch... like a nobody like you would actually know anything about the boss' secret." Mr. 5 said smirking.

Miss Monday followed up with "One of our agents is from a certain kingdom and they have infiltrated Baroque works."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but your boss is Crocodile. Who really cares, it's not really that big a deal..." Luffy said crossing his arms. He was annoyed that the agents had just blown him off like that.

All six agents gave another start at that. Four hadn't even known his identity but Mr. 8 and Miss Wednesday did. They thought to themselves 'How does he know Crocodile?!'

"Well it looks like we'll have more than just a couple to kill today... if that's true of course." Mr. 5 said. That knowledge was very dangerous. If Mr. 0 found out that they all knew his identity, they would all be killed without hesitation. How the hell had this kid known that? No one below Miss All Sunday ever met with the boss face to face.

"How does a nobody like you know that?" Ms. Valentine said glaring at the pirate.

Luffy continued to pout "Well I might've told you before but you guys are mean! No way am I going to tell you now!"

Zoro sweat dropped at this. He wasn't surprised that Luffy knew considering his past... but why did he have to act like such a kid?

"It's no matter." Mr. 5 said. "We will just have to kill you all now. Hopefully the boss never has to learn that the two of us have that knowledge. That should be possible if all of you are dead. Especially you two Vivi and Igaram."

At this Mr. 5 began digging in his nose for ammunition while Miss Valentine launched herself in the air.

Mr. 8 otherwise known as Igaram pulled on his draw strings to reveal his secret weapon hidden in his hair. He sent a volley at Mr. 5 as Miss Monday and Mr. 9 were unable to move due to their shock. Miss Wednesday began spinning her Peacock Slashers, and watched as Miss Valentine floated above them.

Mr. 5 was revealed to be totally unharmed from the explosions that had happened all around him due to Igaram.

Miss Valentine however was beginning her rapid decent flying straight at Vivi as she laughed.

Mr. 9 not knowing fully what was going on decided that he would protect his partner. He pulled out his metal batons and ran straight at Mr.5.

Mr. 5 just smirked as he pulled two boogers from his nose. "Nose Fancy... CANNON!" he shouted as he launched the boogers at Mr. 9 and Igaram.

They exploded with a huge amount of force knocking Igaram to the ground and sending Mr. 9 flying through the air. Miss Wednesday had been too close to Igaram as she too was launched into one of the nearby buildings.

Vivi was staring in shock as her friends were defeated in a single blow. She was temporarily too stunned to pay attention to the woman that was currently gaining mass as she fell towards the unsuspecting Vivi.

However Luffy who just watched in the beginning decided it was time to interfere. He started to use his ice powers and with a shout of "Hei Hei no Uchiageru!"(Chilly Chill Launch) created a pillar of ice that launched him off the roof towards Miss Valentine. Miss Valentine much to her surprise was given a strong punch that was a lot harder than she ever thought a pirate like him would have been capable of.

She was sent straight towards the giant river, and more importantly towards the giant whale that occupied a large portion of it. The whale seeing the speeding object flying at him twisted his body as he swung his massive tail. It connected with Miss Valentine and sent her flying through the air so fast and far that no one could see where she landed.

"COOOOOOL!" Luffy shouted in excitement. He hadn't planned that but seeing Laboon hit her like a baseball had been cool to see. Laboon gave a bellow of happiness.

Mr. 5 launched another one of his nose cannons at the whale. Luffy seeing this coming due to his observation haki intercepted the gross missile taking the blast for himself.

As the smoke cleared Luffy looked back to Laboon. "Hey big guy why don't you leave this guy to me? You go back underwater I don't want you caught in the crossfire." Luffy said to the whale. He didn't want his nakama to be hurt and Laboon was too big of a target for someone like Mr. 5.

Laboon let out a small wail. He wanted to help Luffy, but choose to do as he was told instead. Sinking below the water it was now between the two Straw Hats, Vivi and Mr. 5.

Vivi stunned at the power that she had just seen from the young pirate asked "Just who are you?"

"Future King of the Pirates!" Luffy shouted with a grin.

Vivi simply stared at that declaration. She thought it sounded foolish but considering it was looking like he was the strongest one here... maybe he wasn't all that foolish.

Zoro had come down from the rooftop and stood next to his captain and Vivi. Igaram had begun to regain consciousness at this point and crawled towards the two Straw Hats.

"Please allow me to make an unreasonable request!" Igaram begged at their feet. "It is beyond my power to stop him! Please, please protect the princess in my stead!"

'Princess?' Zoro thought to himself. 'Just who are these people?'

Luffy however smiled and said "Ok! I'll protect you two!" and he turned and raised his fists prepared to fight the remaining Baroque member. Vivi resumed spinning her weapons and Zoro drew all three of his weapons.

Mr. 5 looked at the three in his way. One had defeated his partner in the blink of an eye. The other he was unsure of but was likely strong as well. Then there was Vivi and Igaram. It looked like Igaram was on deaths door already but Vivi hadn't been touched. This wasn't looking good for him.

Unknown to the people on the ground below high up above the two Unluckies had been watching the fight. Looking to each other they decided it was time to report what they had seen. They flew off in to the distance leaving the rest of their organizations members behind. The boss wasn't going to be happy that was for sure.

Mr. 5 decided that there was no way he could defeat all of them, and with his partner MIA it was even less likely. "We will meet again pirates, and you two..." he said pointing at Vivi and Igaram "Your days are numbered." And with that he took off running. Hopefully he would be able to find his partner but if she fell in the water...

At this point Luffy's crew had started to come around. Noticing the serious lack of villagers they started to file outside. Nami had been watching from the window of the bar but followed the rest of them outside. When she met up with Luffy she gave him back his hat and he nodded appreciatively.

"Soooo... What party did we miss?" Alvida asked looking at all the unconscious villagers and the crater that had been dug up the ground.

"Well it was a trap. But we stopped them." Zoro said bluntly. "Well... Luffy and a whale stopped them." Zoro realized that in a battle with over a hundred foes he hadn't taken down one of them.

Next time he'd just have to be faster.

'A whale?' was a common thought among those Straw Hats that had been sleeping during the attack.

Luffy nodded at this and that was when the crew noticed the two others in their midst.

"Hey your that girl from before... Miss Wednesday right?" Usopp said.

"Well. It's a little more complicated than that." Vivi said looking to Igaram.

"Miss Wednesday is just her codename for the organization we were spying on." Igaram began to say. "Baroque Works is an organization that is attempting to take over our home country. Miss Wednesday is actually Princess Vivi." Igaram revealed to the Straw Hats.

"Wait you're a princess?" Nami asked. The potential pay day for rescuing a princess? Berry signs took over in her mind as she turned to them. "You know if you guys need escorting we could be convinced to help... for a very meager fee of course."

"No." Luffy said.

"Wait what?!" Nami shouted in surprise.

"If your island is on the way..." Luffy began "We will take you there."

Igaram bowed deeply to Luffy. "Thank you so much sir! I owe you more than I ever could repay you if you get her there safely."

Igaram stood up again. "I have a plan though, that can help you get off this island. Your log pose should have already set by now so it will direct you to the next island. However I have another one that points directly to Alabasta."

"Well why don't we just use that one then?" Nami asked. If she wasn't going to be making money on this trip then at least it could be quick...

"Because I believe that when we leave this island we will be attacked. It's only a matter of time before someone reports in, and they send someone after us."

"However If I take the log pose and head towards Alabasta with a disguise I can act as a decoy. If anyone will get attacked it will be me that way." Igaram said solemnly.

"Igaram you can't!" Vivi began to say.

"No princess. It's the least I can do." Igaram replied.

"I will leave now with the decoys." Igaram continued. "You and your crew should wait till the morning to give me a few hours head start. Then you will head on the more traditional route to get to Alabasta. I can't say how long it will take... but I wish you all a safe journey, and please bring the princess back safely."

Luffy nodded at this and then after Vivi said her goodbye's to Igaram they returned to the Going Merry. They watched as Igaram boarded his own ship and then set off down the canal.

"Are we sure this plan is going to work out?" Usopp asked. "After all what if we were being watched? What if they see through our plan from the get go?"

"Well too late to worry about that now." Luffy said smiling to Usopp.

'That's not the reaction you should have...' Usopp thought to himself.

Carue was spotted running up the side of the river to the Going Merry.

"Carue! I was wondering where you got to! Come on these guys will be taking us back home." Vivi said to her duck companion.

As the duck squawked and came aboard the crew marveled at such an odd animal. They had never seen such a large duck and one that looked like he was saddled to be ridden.

"Guys this is Carue. Carue these are the people we will be sailing with." Vivi said gesturing to the Straw Hats.

They waved at the odd duck and Carue waved back.

Zoro chose to speak up at this moment. "So what's going on with Laboon then?"

Alvida responded "What about that giant whale?"

Luffy remembering leaned over the railing of the ship "LABOON!" he shouted.

For a few moments there was no sounds or response. The crew started to look around wondering what their captain was doing. But then they heard it. A large bellow could be heard from beneath the waters.

Soundly the surface began roiling as the waves crashed against the shore and there ship. Then suddenly Laboon burst forth from the giant river.

The crew shouted in surprise at the sudden appearance. Laboon smiled down on the small ship as he noticed the Straw Hats. Between the ocean and his attack earlier the painting on his face had been removed. The scars were clearly visible again.

However then the doorway that was on the side of the giant whale began to open. And when it did Crocus on a small dingy emerged.

"Laboon what the HELL is going on here?!" He shouted. He had heard the crash and was wondering if Laboon had begun crashing against the Red Line again.

He began looking around. "Wait where the hell are we?" this wasn't the twin capes anymore. Those oddly shaped rocks? Where was he?

Then he turned to the ship in front of him. "God damn it..." Laboon had followed them.

Luffy laughing waved to Crocus and Laboon. "Hey old man!"

"Damn brat." Crocus muttered.

"Luffy did Laboon follow us?" Nami asked.

"Yep! Looks like it." He said as he continued waving at Laboon who smiled and wailed in happiness back.

Crocus came aboard the Straw Hats ship. "Well looks like Laboon has decided to travel after you guys after all. I can't say I'm surprised. Laboon only stayed behind before because he was a baby. But now..." he trailed off as he looked to the whale.

"Well I'll look after him I guess. But don't expect me to be buddy, buddy with you all the time. I've liked my private resort in there. If you guys leave me to my retirement I'll keep Laboon in good health. How does that sound?" Crocus said looking at the Straw Hats.

"So you want to hang out on your island-ship then?" Luffy asked.

"I'm too old to be doing adventuring like you youngsters. I just want to read the newspaper every mornin' and relax. That too much to ask of an old man?" Crocus said with a sigh.

"No. I guess not... so you don't mind if Laboon follows along then?" Luffy asked.

"Well I would rather stay at the Twin Capes... but I don't think that's going to happen. So sure that's fine with me." Crocus said.

"After all I made a promise to look after this whale. Didn't realize I'd be unknowingly taken away from the Twin Capes though..." Crocus said rubbing his head.

The crew waved their goodbyes as Crocus got back on his dingy and sailed back into Laboon.

"Hey Laboon!" Luffy called out. "Where going to be leaving soon! Why don't you follow after us? Should probably stay under water though..."

Laboon gave a bellow of agreement and then sunk back under the water. The crew only had to wait now for the first light of the morning before they would take off.

* * *

><p>When morning broke, they set off down the river. Soon they were almost on the open ocean again as they began to sail the next island. Occasional noises could be heard from beneath the ocean which they assumed were from Laboon. However they were surprised when an extra guest spoke up on their ship.<p>

"Be careful not to crash your ship into the rocks near the shore." a voice surprised the crew of the Going Merry. "And congratulations on your escape."

"Wha!?" and "Who's that!?" were shouted in surprise as the crew looked up to see a woman sitting on their ship's upper deck. Luffy looked up to see Robin the archaeologist of the Straw Hats.

"What a nice ship this is." she said nonchalantly.

"I must tell you Miss Wednesday. I met up with Mr. 8 just a while ago." The woman said.

"W-What are you saying?" Vivi asked nervously. "And what are you doing all the way out here, Miss All-Sunday?!"

"Whose partner is she!?" Nami exclaimed.

"She's Mr. 0's partner...!" Vivi said. "She's the only one who knows the boss' true identity, which is why Igaram and I tailed her."

"Well technically, it was more like I let you tail after me." Robin said condescendingly.

"I already knew that!" Vivi shouted "What exactly is your objective!?"

'Now, now... No need to get so worked up. I only let you follow me because you looked so desperate..." Robin said.

"I doubt that." Luffy said.

Robin looked to the Straw Hat pirate. Monkey D. Luffy is what his bounty said. Such a large bounty for such an odd looking pirate... maybe there was more to him than meets the eye.

"Oh and what makes you say that?" she asked the man.

"I don't know. That reason just seems dumb to me." Luffy replied. "I get the feeling you don't like your boss all that much. Or you wouldn't be here talking to us, and you wouldn't have let Igaram live."

If Robin was surprised at his observation she didn't show it. "Maybe I just like to play with my enemies before I kill them?" she said morbidly.

"Nah you don't seem that mean to me." Luffy said back.

"Wait Igaram's still alive?!" Vivi shouted.

"Yeah I could still sense him. He's a bit too far away now but I could before we met her. He's still headed towards Alabasta it seems like." Luffy said to Vivi. He was admittedly lying a little bit. His observational haki didn't go that far, but hopefully he could get Robin to confirm it.

"Is it true?" Vivi asked Miss All-Sunday. "Is Igaram still alive?"

Robin sighed. "Yes. I felt no reason to kill him so he still lives." she then withdrew an eternal log pose from her clothes and tossed it to Luffy. How had this kid 'sensed' Igaram? There was definitely more to this man then appearances let on.

"That will take you straight to an island right before Alabasta. It's a route that Baroque doesn't know about so you won't be followed either."

"Why would she give something like that to us?" Vivi said surprised.

"Ya know if you're trying to convince me your an enemy your doing a bad job of it." But then Luffy crushed the log pose much to everyone's surprise.

"Luffy why would you do that?!" Nami shouted.

"We will take our own path to get there. I won't have it chosen for us." Luffy replied looking right at Robin.

"Oh really now... how interesting." Robin said with a hint of a smile. This pirate was turning out to be quite interesting.

"Why do you feel the need to protect the princess? Her country can't afford to pay you, and up to a few hours ago you didn't even know who she was. So why would you go so far as to escort her all the way back to her country?" Robin asked Luffy. She was genuinely curious at this point. Such selflessness was rare to the point of non-existence.

"It was the right thing to do... and it sounded like it'd be a lot of fun. Plus it looks like I'll be able to kick a warlord's ass if I get to Alabasta so that's a good enough reason right there." Luffy said grinning.

"Really? You're going to fight Crocodile? You know he is awfully strong... do you really think you have the strength to fight someone like him?" she asked seriously. There wasn't a lot she knew about Luffy other than his bounty and some of the pirates he had defeated thus far. But beyond that he was an unknown entity. So the fact that he was confident enough that he could take down a warlord was ... intriguing. And this was the second man she had ever met with the middle initial of D. That in itself was interesting as well.

"If you think someone like a warlord is strong enough to take me on... well I guess you'll just have to see for yourself won't you?" Luffy smirked.

"Oh? Will I now? But what if I decided that you are too dangerous to let go? I could sink your ship right now, and that would stop you from getting to Alabasta wouldn't it?" Miss All Sunday smirked back. This man was awfully bold... and she liked bold men. Provided they could back up their claims at least.

"Yeah you could... but where's the fun in that? I think you'd have a lot more fun seeing me kick your boss' ass." Luffy laughed.

Robin found herself smiling to her surprise. That did sound awfully interesting... "Well... It's been a pleasure Straw Hat Luffy, but I must go. I should probably warn my boss that your planning on taking him down, don't you think?"

"Well you could always travel with us." Luffy said.

"Wait what?!" Vivi shouted.

"Yeah what's going on Luffy? She works for the big bad guy! The one who's trying to kill us!" Nami shouted as well.

"Eh yeah she does work for him, but she doesn't really seem to be all that loyal to him." Luffy said to his crew. "I'm a good judge of character. Trust me." Luffy said looking at Nami.

Nami opened her mouth to reply but then shut it again. Luffy even though he was a moron at times had been right in the past when it came to people. Plus he was from the future so he hopefully knew what he was doing.

"Alright Luffy if that's your decision... It's alright with me then."

Zoro stared the woman down for awhile. He didn't trust her like his captain did, but with a shrug of his shoulders he decided to let the issue drop. It was his job to follow his captain anyway.

The rest of his crew seemed uneasy at this but they nodded as well.

Vivi however was not so convinced. "How can you say that! This woman is second in command of the entire organization that is trying to take over my country! We can't trust her!"

"Vivi do you trust me to get you home?" Luffy asked seriously.

Vivi stopped talking and looked at the man in front of her. She had to admit she had underestimated him the first time they had met but she had seen a little of his strength so far, and it had impressed her. Right now he was radiating confidence that he knew what he was doing.

Finally with a sigh she said "Yes Luffy... I do."

"Alright. Then trust I know what I'm doing then." Luffy said.

Vivi looking at Luffy eventually nodded in acceptance.

"Alright! So what do you say Miss All Sunday? Want to go on an adventure?" Luffy said grinning up at his past and future nakama.

Robin had silently watched the crew argue over the captains offer, and had been mulling over the question as they talked amongst themselves. She had joined with Crocodile because she had wanted to find the lost history which meant finding the Poneglyphs, and she needed protection from the World Government to do so. However maybe this man was a better one to follow for her dream...

She began to laugh light heartedly. "Alright Captain. I will travel with you for now. But for your sake, I hope you aren't all bark and no bite." Robin said smiling down at her temporary captain.

Luffy grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Alright guys lets set off!"

"Wait." Miss All Sunday said as she walked over to the railing of the Going Merry. "Bunchi! Go back to Alabasta, I will be meeting you there."

The giant turtle nodded and turning away began to swim towards the far off destination.

"Woah a giant turtle..." Usopp said looking out at the turtle as it swam away.

"Alright Captain I'm ready now." Robin said.

"Alright!" He shouted over the railing "Laboon! Were setting off now!"

For a short while nothing was heard. Robin looked at Luffy wondering what he was shouting at when suddenly a large call could be heard coming from beneath the ocean.

"My Captain, it seems that you have some interesting nakama." Robin said smiling at Luffy.

"Yup! After all your here aren't you?" Luffy laughed.

Robin laughed in return as well. "Nakama? Already? I think it will take a while before we consider each other nakama. How about you just call me Robin for now? Nico Robin."

Luffy smiled in return. "Ok Robin!" He knew that one day they would be nakama again. He was surprised he had actually convinced Robin to come with him already. He knew that with her past that she had been lonely for a long time. Hopefully now he and the Straw Hats could make her feel at home for the first time in a long time for her. He was looking forward to being her nakama again.

And so the Straw Hats set sail. Heading off to their next destination, the island known as Little Garden...

* * *

><p>AN: So two new nakama have joined the Straw Hats. Laboon and Robin.<p>

I decided that it was to fun of an idea to pass on Laboon. I think it will be interesting to see how this can change the events to come.

Crocus as I kind of said in this chapter will mostly keep to himself. He will help keep Laboon healthy and will interact with the crew at some points but he is not a Straw Hat. Just a retired pirate being dragged along by a giant whale.

Robin probably came as a surprise to you guys. I also thought it would be fun to see what could happen with a Nico Robin that came with them from the start instead of the end of the Alabasta arc.

Plus I am doing a Luffy x Nami x Robin story here so I figured the best way to really get it started was to have them both there to figure out there feelings for each other.

Plus I did want the romance to start moving along with Luffy but I thought it would be a little weird for it to be Luffy x Nami and then suddenly when Robin joins she buts in on their relationship. I mean it's not like harems work in real life but I would like it to be at least sort of make sense.

Also while Alvida is going to be a Straw Hat I am undecided on whether or not she will actually be paired with Luffy. I think for now at least she will probably try and get involved and most likely get in the way of Nami and Robin but I will be putting up a poll after this to see what you guys think.

Also the named move Luffy used earlier I totally borrowed from Infamous 2. The ice power Cole has where he launches himself into the air with a pillar of ice he creates. That power was so cool in that game so I admittedly have been looking for a reason to use it.

I have the day off tomorrow so I will try and get a good start to the next chapter before I go back to work.

Hopefully you guys like the newest chapter! As always pm or review if you have any questions or concerns. Or just want to say you like/dislike my fic. That's cool too : )

**EDIT: Sorry I made a small change after the fact when I realized I totally forgot about Carue. He is now on board lol sorry about that.**


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